Pokemon Hearts: Daughter of a Hero
by Nothing Blade
Summary: Don't let the title fool you. It's more Kingdom Hearts than Pokemon. I do appreciate reviews, a lot. Whether you like the story or not, if you have something to say, post a review. I'd like to know how I'm doing with it.
1. Prologue

_A hero needs a team to guide her._

_A team she will lead through darkness._

_Three Pokemon to help her unravel_

_The mysteries of a great evil._

_Star…such a first name begs a Pokemon with a fiery passion to match. That Pokemon is Arcanine._

_Brooke…A calming, soothing name like a running river…The Pokemon to match this name is Milotic._

_Stone…strong, resilient, lasting. A Pokemon with a hide to match its will is needed for this name. That Pokemon is…Onix._

_Star, take heed. You will face terrible danger. You must train yourself. You must be ready._

Star stood on a floating platform. The platform was surrounded only by darkness. Suddenly, small shadows appeared on the floor of the platform. They erupted from the ground, and took the form of small four-legged buglike creatures. Their glowing yellow eyes seemed to taunt her as their wide mouths smiled, emitting a horrible shrieking laughter.

Star jumped back in surprise. They were closing in on her. Suddenly, three Pokeballs materialized on her belt. She pulled them all off and released the Pokemon.

"CANINE!!!"

"MILOOOO!"

"CHROOAAAH!"

Milotic, Onix, and Arcanine! What luck! She had some sweet Pokemon. She was about to tell them what to do when they began tearing apart at the little shadows.

_Your friends do not respond to the commands of your voice. They respond to the commands of your heart. Keep your heart in the light, and the path will show you the way._

Light shining from seemingly out of nowhere showed a stairwell that lead up to another platform. Star knew what to do. She began to run up the stairwell, with Arcanine, Milotic, and Onix jumping in front of her, taking out little shadow creatures in her way.

She made it up to the next platform. She was looking around as a large shadow creature, larger than any of the others, appeared and began swiping its large hands at her. In its chest was a hole…it had the shape of a heart. She jumped out of the way of the swipe, and her Pokemon began attacking it.

_Your friends cannot win this battle alone. You'll need to help them._

A sword appeared in her hands, and she immediately knew what she was supposed to use it for. She began attacking the shadow creature, until finally she cut it open, and it fell, spewing shadow onto the floor.

_Just when you may think you have found the light, the shadow grows stronger._

The shadow engulfing the floor began to draw her into the platform, and her Pokemon disappeared. She struggled, but the shadow was like quicksand. She couldn't escape. She was up to her head, when suddenly…

_But don't be afraid._

_Within the darkness lies a stronger light. In every heart there is the power to hold back the darkness. You just need to know how to reach it._

Star fell into the darkness.


	2. Chapter 1

Star woke up in a daze. Was that just a dream? It seemed so real. She pulled off the covers to find that she was already dressed for the day. Oh, right. She'd slept in her clothes to try it out. Someone said it helped cut down the time it takes to get ready. However, sleeping in her clothes just made it that much harder to tame her long brown hair. She had her mother's hairstyle but her father's color. And she hated it. It was always so tough to get ready…but she loved the way it looked. She reached down to fix a pant leg that had worked its way upward slightly while she was sleeping when she noticed her belt had a few objects on it. Strange. She never wore anything on her belt. She looked down to realize that they were POKEBALLS. She'd never really had Pokeballs before. This was kinda cool. She ran downstairs to greet her family for the day when she saw her father at the table in the kitchen, buried in papers. He had to have all the reports graded by the next day or else the kids in his Physics class would get very upset. She always used to ask him why he taught high school when he could easily teach at the college level, but he told her, "Star, I loved high school. It's the time when everyone's starting to learn things that will help them later on in life. I want to help kids learn the IMPORTANT things before it's too late."

She always used to laugh at him a bit for saying this, but perhaps she was being too hard on him. Oh well. He was her father, and he was hard on her sometimes, too. She walked into the kitchen with a smile. "Hi, daddy!"

Xander put his papers down and smiled as well. "Did you sleep well, my little Starlight?"

Star blushed. "Dad…I asked you not to call me that anymore."

"Why not? Why can't a father have a pretty name for his shining Starlight?"

"Oh, dad, sometimes, you're impossible!" Star yelled. But she giggled. She didn't really mean it. Sometimes her dad embarrassed her, but it didn't matter.

"Aw, c'mere, kiddo!" He gave her a little hug and Summer walked in.

"Well, if she's not up! I was about to waltz on up to your room and WAKE you up, young lady!"

"MOOOM! It's only eight thirty!"

"Now, you still need to get up a little earlier. The early bird catches the worm!"

Xander laughed, and kissed his wife on the cheek. "Come on, honey, you know our daughter hates worms. Besides, it's Saturday. If she wants to sleep in, I say let her."

"Oh, so now I'M the overprotective one?" Summer joked.

"No, that's still me." He laughed loudly.

Star interrupted. "Mom, Dad, guess what I found this morning in my room!"

"Oh? What did you find, dear?"

She held out the Pokeballs. "Look for yourself! Aren't they neat?"

Xander's eyes widened. "Give me those!" He snatched them up.

Summer looked worried, and Star jumped back in surprise. "Xander, what's come over you?!"

"My daughter will NOT be a Pokemon trainer. Not now, not ever!"

"But Dad, I didn't…"

"No buts! You will not be a Pokemon trainer and that's final!"

Star groaned and walked out of the room. He never understood anything sometimes.

Summer walked up to Xander and put her hand on his shoulder. "You can't control her forever, Xander."

"Summer, in the 33 years I've been alive, a lot of bad things happened to me because I trained Pokemon. I don't want Star to go through the same thing."

Summer frowned. "She's not a little kid anymore. She can handle herself."

As Star walked out the back door, she was upset. The last thing she heard was "I'm not so sure she can handle herself, Summer."

"And whose fault is that, Xander?" asked Summer, slightly annoyed. "You can't keep her safe all the time. You can't protect her from the world for the rest of her life just because something bad happened to you when you were younger."

Xander sighed. "You're right, Summer. I should give these back to her."

He put the Pokeballs in his pocket and walked out the door after Star. He looked around, but couldn't find her. He sighed. It was times like these that he missed Mew and Celebi. There wasn't anything he could do about that, though. Years ago, they accepted an invitation from Diaruga and Parukia to join them in the Realm of Time. It was an offer they would have had to have been stupid to refuse. He missed them a lot, just the same.

He saw a footprint and ran in the direction it pointed. He finally ended up finding Star, and he called out to her.

"Star! Come here for a second!"

Star looked down on the ground and began to cross the street. Suddenly, a loud honk was heard. "STAR! LOOK OUT!"

Star jumped as hard as she could, and just barely made it to the side of the street before the car tore through the air where she had just been, followed closely by two police cars. Xander ran to her and picked her off the ground. "Are you okay, honey?"

"I'm…I'm fine. I've never jumped that high before in my life. I must have a guardian angel."

Xander stared up into the sky for a moment. "No, Star. You've got two."


	3. Chapter 2

Back at the house, Xander walked up to Star as she sat on the couch, drinking cocoa to help calm her down. "Star, I've been doing some thinking, and…well, you're still my little Starlight…but I think you're old enough now that you can handle being a Pokemon trainer. Here are your Pokeballs back." He handed them to her.

Star smiled. "Thanks a lot, Dad. It's nice to know that you trust me."

"I've always trusted you, Star. It's the world I don't trust."

"I'll be fine."

"I know. Say, those Pokeballs…they aren't empty! What's in them?"

Star shrugged. "I don't know."

She pointed the balls at the window, and a Milotic, Arcanine, and Onix appeared outside. Star looked surprised. The Pokemon from her dream…they were in the Pokeballs she found. That was strange…

"Wow, Star! You've got some really strong-looking Pokemon! You'll do just fine. Now, if you're gonna train Pokemon, you'd probably get started right away, kiddo."

"Sure thing, Dad." Star got up and walked up to her room to pack. She was going to be off on an adventure!

When Star got back downstairs, Xander was there, waiting to say goodbye. He hugged her tightly, and then opened the door for her. "You take care, okay?"

"I'll miss you, Dad."

"I'll miss you too, Starlight."

Star smiled and said goodbye to her mother as well.

"She'll be fine, Xander. She's a strong kid."

"I know, Summer. I know."

Star was walking down the street, looking for the nearest Pokemon Mart to stock up on goods, when she suddenly bumped into an old friend from down the street. "I'm sorry…" she started to say, but then she looked up. "BRANDON! How are you doing?! I haven't seen you since school got out!"

Brandon laughed nervously. "Hey Star. I'm doing...alright…I'm just about to start training Pokemon to take on the League."

Star jumped in the air for joy. "ME TOO! You wanna come with me?"

Brandon's eyes widened in pure nervous fear. "Well, I…I mean, I'd love too…I mean…"

Star smiled widely and squealed with delight, hugging Brandon so tightly as to nearly choke him to death. "This is gonna be so much fun! Us two best friends training Pokemon together!"

Brandon laughed nervously again. "Ehe…Yeah, friends. Best friends."

Star saw the nervous look on his face and frowned. "Is something wrong? Do you not wanna come with me?"

"NO! I mean…I want to come with you…"

"Nervous because you're new to Pokemon?"

"NEW!? I'm not new to Pokemon! I beat the local gym leader already, thank you very much!"

"Okay, then maybe you can go it alone, and you don't need my help." Star smiled mischievously.

"I didn't say that! I want to go with you!"

Star smiled. "Yay! Let's get going to the Pokemart!"

As they walked through the small suburban town, they spied all of the look-alike white, ranch-style homes, the overdone fake green turf, and the clear blue skies. They weren't at all remorseful to be leaving all of this behind. As they walked into the Pokemart and up to the front counter, the shopkeep smiled widely.

"Hey there, little girl! You and your boyfriend gonna start training Pokemon?"

Brandon blushed. Star looked confused. "Boyfriend? He's not my boyfriend. I don't have a boyfriend."

Brandon, to avoid further embarrassment, walked away and gathered all the supplies they'd need: Potions, Ethers, a tent, two sleeping bags, some Pokemon food, and some prepackaged travel meals. He slapped them on the counter. "We'll take all this."

"Well, we get right to the point, don't we? No small talk for you, no sir," the shopkeep laughed. "Well, that'll come to $15000."

Brandon just handed the man the money, grabbed Star's hand, and dragged her out with the stuff. He didn't want to be embarrassed any further.


	4. Chapter 3

Star and Brandon were so busy walking across nearby Celadon City, their feet clanking against the brick-paved ground, they didn't seem to notice the approaching clouds. Brandon looked at Star. _She's so beautiful, _he thought. _But she'd never give me the time of day, would she?_

As the clouds darkened the sky overhead, Star looked at her watch. "Hm. That's odd. It shouldn't be this dark. It's only noon."  
Star and Brandon then noticed something strange. There wasn't anyone out in the streets. The entire city was deserted. What was going on? Suddenly, shadows began being cast on the brick, even though the light was almost nonexistent anyway. Star stepped back. Something seemed familiar about this…but what? Then she remembered. The dream…this was like the dream! Just as that thought appeared in her mind, the same little shadow creatures from her dream popped out of the ground. One of them jumped on her and began scratching at her face. Infuriated, Brandon grabbed it by the leg and threw it on the ground. He proceeded to pummel the creature until it burst into liquid shadow that quickly evaporated.

He pointed at the rest of the creatures. "Don't ANY of you try to touch her!"

Star, her composure regained, sent out her newfound Pokemon. "GO! Arcanine! Milotic! Onix! Get rid of these creatures!"

As the trio burst from their Pokeballs, the darkened appeared began to do something strange…was the sky CRACKING? It seemed so…like glass hit by a rock, it seemed to spiderweb its way to falling apart. Brandon wouldn't be distracted from this, though, and neither would Star. Star sent her Pokemon at the creatures, and Brandon got out a Pokeball. "GO! Misdreavus! Use Psywave!"

As Misdreavus' waves of Psychic energy tore through the creatures, Milotic was taking more out with Hydro Pump, while Onix wrapped them to death one by one. Arcanine couldn't be seen as it destroyed them with Extremespeed. However, they weren't attacking the creatures for long before they stopped coming altogether. There was a crashing noise, and the ground shook. Star and Brandon turned around and looked in horror as a giant shadow creature stretched its limbs. It was a bluish-black, its hair like that of Medusa, flailing wildly, its chest with the same heart-shaped hole that the creature in Star's dream had had. Milotic, Arcanine, Onix, and Misdreavus all began to attack the creature, managing to at least keep it occupied from whatever it was trying to do. Star was cheering on her and Brandon's Pokemon when she suddenly felt a weight in her arms. She looked down to see herself holding a sword. But it wasn't really a sword…it was more like a giant key. She heard a voice.

_The door will be resealed by the one who holds the key._

When Star looked to the side, she saw that Brandon had already decided that the Pokemon needed some help. He was busy throwing broken bricks at the creature, hoping to do some kind of damage, but it didn't seem to be doing anything at all… Star, not wanting to be left out, charged the creature with her new weapon. As she slashed at it, it began spewing shadow, just like in her dream. It slowly vanished into oblivion. The two withdrew their Pokemon. Star hugged Brandon, who blushed profusely.

"We beat it!" she screamed with joy.

Smiling, Brandon simply said, "Yeah, we did."

The world began to shake. The spiderweb cracks in the sky reached their shatterpoints and the sky itself collapsed into darkness. A strong wind blew from the ground up to the sky, and the ground began to break like sand, carried up into the darkness by the wind. The two watched in pure horror as the world itself was disintegrating.

"What's going on, Brandon? What should we do?"

Brandon held Star tighter. "I don't think there's anything we can do, Star."

The two of them were suddenly lifted off the ground. They felt themselves being pulled apart. "Brandon! I'm scared!"

"Don't worry, Star! Just don't let go!"

However, his words were lost as they were ripped apart from each other, and cast into the darkness.


	5. Chapter 4

Star woke up in a daze. As she looked around, she saw people everywhere in a bustling little town with brown brick buildings and even brick roads. She got up off the ground and rubbed her head. She felt around, but there were no bumps under her soft brownish-black hair. Good. At least she wasn't hurt. As she looked at everyone in the city, she almost felt…inadequate. With her short stature and pale skin, she could easily be told apart from the tall, tan people living here. She didn't care about that much, though. She just wanted to know what was going on. She walked up to one of the people, a strange person with white hair and tannish-white skin.

"Hi. My name's Star, and some weird stuff's been happening to me lately…could you tell me just where the heck I am?"

The person laughed. "Why, this is Tempest Town, little one! And judging from your looks you've never even been this world! Where are you from?"

"I'm from Firenta town, in the Kanto region. Tell me, what region is this?"

"Region? This isn't a region. It's a world! I'm guessing that Kanto is a region of another world. Kiddo, you're far from home, now."

"Another world? Like, another country? That's cool!"

The stranger laughed. "I'm not talking about another country, kid. I'm talking about another world entirely. Another planet. Somehow, you broke the barriers between worlds."

"Well, weird stuff was happening lately…"

The stranger suddenly became serious. He leaned in closely. "What kind of weird stuff?"

"Well, first, these shadow creatures started popping up out of the ground, and then this HUUUUGE one popped up and I was having my Pokemon attack it and then suddenly this sword…key…thing just appeared in my hands…"

She held out her hand, and the sword rematerialized. "…Like that."

The stranger's eyes widened. "Put that away! We can't discuss this here. We need to go somewhere safer."

Star followed him to an inn. The inn seemed empty, except for the shopkeeps, a fairly short man with wild brown hair, and a woman with orange-red hair and a huge smile. The stranger sat down with Star. "Star, was it?"

"Yes, that's my name."

"Okay. Star, that 'sword key thing', as you so quaintly put it, is the Keyblade. It has the power to open people's hearts…and to seal keyholes. It is a powerful weapon that chooses a master in times of darkness, and it seems to have chosen you."

"What? I don't understand…why would it choose me?"

"Because your heart is pure. The Keyblade chooses one of a pure heart to wield it. Only one with a pure heart can truly defeat the Heartless."

"The Heartless? What are Heartless?"

"The Heartless are evil creatures, creatures that have long since given their hearts to darkness. Now, they seek out other hearts…hearts to appease the darkness. They won't stop until all hearts belong to darkness."

"So…those little things…and that giant monster?"

"They were all Heartless. They were seeking something on your world. Something that is very valuable to them."

"Then what happened?"

"Well, considering that you're here now, they must have destroyed your world."

"WHAT!?" Star screamed loudly.

"Yes. Obviously, they didn't find what they were looking for, and destroyed your world."

"Why would they do that?"

"They're the Heartless. They don't care about the safety of other beings. They only care about taking hearts into the darkness and finding the door."

"The door?"

"Yes. The door that they believe leads to the ultimate darkness. The door they plan to open to remove all light from the world…forever."

The male shopkeep walked up behind Star and put his hand on her shoulder. "So, Riku, is this the new chosen one?"

"Yes, Sora, I believe it is."

"Well…perhaps we should train her."

"Yes, Sora. Perhaps we should." He smiled mysteriously.


	6. Chapter 5

Brandon rubbed his throbbing head softly. He looked around. His first thought went immediately to Star. Where was she? Was she okay? He sighed. She was nowhere to be found. If only he'd held on just a bit tighter…

…But now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. He could apologize to Star later, but for now he needed to FIND her. He only hoped she wouldn't hate him for not holding her tighter. He could almost see her now, her normally bright, shining face darkened with scorn, her usually perky, smiling lips contorted into a frown. He sighed again. He looked around again, this time trying to take in the scenery…or lack thereof. As his eyes wandered, he found himself sitting in a dark room, walls and floors featureless, surrounded by a dense fog.

_Where am I?_ He thought to himself. _What is this place?_

Reaching over his shoulder to scratch an itch, he noticed he was carrying a backpack of some sort. Taking it off and examining it, he realized it was the bag that contained their supplies—Star's pack. Strange. He didn't remember taking it from her. In fact, she'd dropped it during the battle with the shadow creatures. How had he…?

Then it hit him. Misdreavus must have picked it up and given it to Brandon before the world began collapsing. Great. Now Star would think he'd flung her into the darkness AND stolen her stuff. Perfect. Before, his concern had been with asking her to lunch or something similar, but now he would probably have to struggle to convince her not to kill him outright for being a murderous, thieving stalker. Suddenly he heard a laugh and the fog began to take a black form…a horned being that appeared at least slightly human.

"Hello, child."

"Hello, ugly apparition," said Brandon with a mix of distaste and lack of interest.

The creature laughed again. "There is much darkness in your heart. I can sense it."

"Listen, freak. What's in my heart is MY business, not YOURS," Brandon said defensively.

"Calm yourself, child. I mean you no harm."

"You told me there's darkness in my heart and now you say you mean me no harm?"

"There is no evil in darkness. Only those who do not understand it. Darkness is power. Power is derived from darkness. There are people who cannot see this, and so they shun the darkness."

"You're just trying to get me all worked up. Buzz off, pal, I got a friend to find."

"Your friend is on another world. You won't find her without help."

"I don't need your help. I'd never need YOUR help," Brandon said fiercely.

"My, my. We ARE determined, aren't we? Pity you'll never find her."

"Excuse me?!"

"Surrender your heart to darkness and you will achieve the power to find your friend," said the creature mysteriously.

"Who are you?"

"I am Nightmare."

"Well, Nightmare," said Brandon, walking away, "you can go kiss the rear end of a Piloswine. I'm not interested."

As Brandon disappeared, Nightmare smiled. "We shall see."

Three black knights arose from the fog. "What is your bidding, Master?"

"Go, my Heartless. Capture the boy. Bring him to me…alive."

Star charged and began to slash, but stopped the Keyblade inches before Riku's face. "Why aren't you moving?" she demanded.

"Because," Riku said with a frown, "you are hesitating. Don't. Try to drive the Keyblade through my skull."

Star swallowed her inhibitions and began another slash. She wasn't going to hold back this time. As the blade approached Riku's face again, he cracked a smile. He swiftly pulled a dagger concealed in his belt and guided the Keyblade away, nearly causing Star to lose her balance. He stabbed at her wrists, forcing her to release the Keyblade and jump back in surprise. CLANG! Went the blade as it hit the ground forcefully.

Riku lifted the Keyblade and brought it to within an inch of her throat. "Lesson one," he said calmly. "Never drop your weapon in a battle."

He pulled the blade away and casually tossed it back to her. "I think that's enough training for the day," he stated as he resheathed his dagger.

Star concentrated and the Keyblade went…well, she hadn't really thought about where Keyblades went when they weren't being used. Oh, well. She panted heavily on the way back to the inn.

"A little tired?" asked Kairi, grinning.

"Exhausted."

Kairi laughed. "Well, you'll get used to it."


	7. Chapter 6

Brandon found himself walking around in the strange world. All around were endless grassy plains, and there was a cliff that overlooked an ocean. At the top of the cliff was the castle he'd just walked out of. The castle was a purple-black color, bigger than anything he'd ever seen. A single dome was at the top, with Nightmare standing on it, watching Brandon. But Brandon couldn't care less. He was looking for Star, and no amount of darkness or creepy freaks were going to distract him. As the shadowed grass flowed in the slight breeze, he looked around. However, he didn't see anything. It wasn't that he couldn't find a hint of Star…He couldn't see ANYTHING. AT ALL. There was a crater in the ground a mile or so away, but otherwise, all there was was grassy plain.

"Hm. That's odd. I wonder what could have…"

Suddenly, three tall knights in black armor approached him, running quickly.

_Who the heck are THESE clowns?_ Thought Brandon absent-mindedly.

One of the knights emitted a strange yell and drew his sword. The others did the same. Were these idiots trying to attack him? He didn't have to wait long for his answer. The knight closest to him took a swing, but Brandon ducked and the sword flew over his head.

"Listen, freaks! I don't have time to fight you! I'm looking for my friend, so just leave now!"

Another knight swung at him, and he dodged the sword again.

His eyes narrowed. "So that's how we're gonna do this?" He prepared for the next knight's attack.

When the knight swung his sword, Brandon stepped to the side and grabbed the knight's wrists. "Fine. If you won't go away, then I'll MAKE you go away!"

He flung the knight to the ground and stepped on his arm, causing him to release his sword. The knight didn't have time to cry out before Brandon picked up the sword, and with a mighty swing removed the knight's head from his shoulders. He was horrified, until he saw that the knight was not spilling out blood, but instead, pure shadow.

The two other knights turned around and charged. "You freaks want some too? Fine. I got some frustration to take out anyway."

As the second knight charged, he parried the attack easily and quickly cut him down. Brandon laughed. Apparently these weren't elite knights. But perhaps he'd thought too soon. The third knight nearly removed Brandon's left arm, and when Brandon went to parry, the knight changed the direction of his attack, forcing Brandon to duck to avoid having his head removed. The knight brought the sword around and over his head, trying to slice Brandon in half down the middle. Brandon caught the sword with his own, and was attempting to hold it back. Brandon grunted. This knight wasn't a weakling. Slowly but surely he was pushed back to one knee on the ground. He began to sweat. He didn't know how much longer he could hold out. As he tried to put his last bit of effort into pushing the knight's sword back, he suddenly felt the wind pick up. Why would the wind be picking up? The knight paused in confusion, and was sucked up into a horrifically powerful gust. Brandon looked to his right just in time to see the knight sucked up and eaten by a small, round, pink creature. Wait. EATEN? What the heck was going on?

The pink creature made a strange childlike sound, and spun around quickly. Suddenly it was wearing a green hat and was holding a sword. Brandon hesitated. Was this new creature friendly?

"Wai…waiou!" exclaimed the creature, waving its arms happily at Brandon. He stepped closer. It didn't seem to mean any harm.

"Hi there!" he said as he approached the creature. "Thanks for saving me."

The creature simply smiled, as if it couldn't speak English.

"Can you understand me?"

The creature nodded…well, sort of. It seemed as though the entire body of the creature was its head. After all, its head had both its arms and legs attached.

"I'm looking for a friend. Her name is Star. She's got these eyes…like shining sapphires, taking whatever darkness was around you and destroy it all with their beauty. Her hair is the softest golden brown you've ever seen, like freshly baking bread, but it smells so much sweeter. She's not as tall as me, but she makes up for it with her personality. When she walks into a room, you instantly know it's her, and I'm not getting any of this through to you, am I?" Brandon asked disappointedly.

The creature simply shook its head and looked out into the distance at the sky. The clouds were parted over the sea, and he could see stars blinking out. The creature sighed.

"What's wrong?" asked Brandon.

The creature pointed at the dimming stars, and sighed again sadly.

"What's going on?"

The creature, frustrated that it couldn't speak English, simply walked away. Brandon stood perplexed for a moment, then decided to follow the creature. After all, it was the only thing that hadn't done him any wrong in this place.


	8. Chapter 7

Star awoke in her bed at the inn, startled. She'd had a terrible dream…Brandon was lying on the floor…unconscious…or worse. She'd wept, leaning over him, until finally she heard a horrible laugh. A creature of shadow was triumphantly floating above them, with shadow spilling from a huge door shaped like a keyhole.

"_You freak! What have you done to him? Oh, Brandon, are you okay?"_

"_His heart is gone to darkness, child. There is nothing you can do for him now."_

_She shook him softly. "C'mon, Brandon…wake up…please wake up…please…I…"_

Then she'd woken up. What did that mean? Was it just a dream? It seemed so real…

Kairi walked in, concerned. "You were making a lot of noise in your sleep…is something wrong?"

"It's…nothing, I guess. Just a bad dream."

"I understand. Sometimes dreams can seem so real. Sometimes dreams can BE so real."

"I just don't know what to do…I want to see him again so much…"

"Do you have feelings for this boy?"

"Well…I'm not sure…"

"You just want to see him again because maybe that'll help you find out if you do?"

"I really don't know."

"That's understandable, Star. Just remember that once you've fulfilled your destiny, you can be together, and your world will return to normal."

"How do you know that for sure?"

"I can't know for sure. But it's happened before, and all the worlds returned. There's no reason to believe that they won't now."

"You're right. I should get some rest."

"Yeah. You've got a big day of training ahead of you. Rest up."

Star's head slowly sank into her pillow and she drifted back to sleep.

Brandon caught up with the little pink creature. He still held the sword of the knight he'd defeated. He wasn't entirely sure how he'd done it. Perhaps it was instinct. That had to be it. Instinct and adrenaline. After all he couldn't have gotten that strong and proficient at swordplay that quickly otherwise, right?

The creature muttered some sort of unintelligible drivel again. He really wished he could understand what this creature was saying…but there was no way to understand it without it speaking English, which it obviously couldn't do. After much struggle, the creature did say something that Brandon thought he understood.

"Mai………nim………..ko-i-bi…."

Mai nim ko-i-bi? May naim koibi? My…name…Kirby! That's what it was saying! It was telling him its name!

"Very nice to meet you, Kirby," said Brandon, trying to return the kind gesture. "My name is Brandon."

However, Kirby didn't seem to be able to struggle out any more English. Brandon sighed. Well, perhaps it was a miracle in and of itself simply that the creature had managed to say that much.

Kirby stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean, looking out at the stars. Kirby sighed. Looking up, Brandon finally noticed why Kirby was so upset. The stars were…disappearing. Why would the stars be disappearing?

Kirby tried sadly to blurt out more English. "Dooah….Ki….hawl…"

Door? Keyhole? What was he getting at? Was whatever he was talking about the cause of the disappearing stars? Maybe if Brandon found that out, he'd be closer to finding Star.

"Kirby, are you saying you know what's causing this? Can you take me to this door…this Keyhole?"

Kirby nodded and ran off into the distance. Brandon struggled to remain close behind.


	9. Chapter 8

The forest was dark, with shadows everywhere…any one of which could be concealing some unknown enemy. The moon was barely visible through the dense, uneven foliage above. They were looking at the back of an old oak tree...In front of the tree had been a plaque. It read _This tree contains the spirit of Wispy Woods, the Guardian of the Forest. Tread lightly, and show respect._

The back of the oak had a strange carving on it, almost twice Brandon's size…in the shape of the key. Brandon stood marveling at what Kirby seemed to be saying was a Keyhole.

"I wonder…what is this Keyhole for?"

Feeling a slight chill, Brandon turned around in time to see a small figure step out from the shadows. The figure had yellow slits for eyes, or so it seemed. It had Kirby's shape, but was covered from…top of round body to bottom…with armor. In a hilt to its side was a golden sword with strange, wavy edges. It had a blue cape that was only slightly longer than it, but it flowed mysteriously in the wind. When it spoke, it had an almost Spanish accent. "The Keyhole…I never thought we'd have to worry about it. That Keyhole is not to be trifled with. The Keyhole helps to keep Dreamland in balance. Although…as of late, it seems to be slacking on its job."

Brandon appeared suspicious. "Who are you?"

"I am Meta Knight. I am one of the trusted knights of this kingdom's ruler, King Dedede. However, Dedede seems to have fled with the townspeople from Nightmare."

Kirby smiled. When Brandon saw this, he was put at least slightly at ease. Kirby seemed to know this Meta Knight, and Kirby didn't seem evil. Maybe Meta Knight wasn't, either. "Nightmare…I met a creature that called itself Nightmare in that castle up on the hill."

Meta Knight's eye seemed to raise itself…through his armor? "You met Nightmare face to face? And you weren't killed?"

Brandon looked confused. "No, I wasn't killed. He tried to tell me something about there being darkness in my heart, and asked me to join him."

Meta Knight pulled out his sword. "You are a minion of Nightmare!?" He asked suspiciously.

Brandon was surprised, but not afraid. He slowly pushed the sword out of cutting distance from his throat. "Calm down. I told the freak no. No way I'm getting involved with some floating shadowy piece of trash. I just wanna find my friend, Star."

"Waioooouh!" exclaimed Kirby, smiling.

Meta Knight resheathed his sword. "Kirby does not lie. If you do not mean Dreamland any harm, then I do not mean you any harm. I apologize for my outburst."

Brandon smiled. "No problem. I know how tough it is to trust people you've never met before. First thing after I left the castle, I was attacked by these three knights."

"You survived a battle with Nightmare's Elite Knights?"

"Well, it was kinda tough, but after I got the sword from one," Brandon said as he drew the sword and showed it to Meta Knight, "it wasn't that bad. I ended—wait…did you say ELITE KNIGHTS?"

"Yes. Nightmare employs many Heartless, but only three of them take the form of knights. They are Nightmare's Elite."

Brandon's eyes widened. "I…killed…Elite Knights?"

Suddenly, Brandon swung his sword in front of him in surprise as a flash of light approached. It seemed like it had taken a long time for the flash to hit his sword, but in reality, it didn't even take half a second for him to block it. Startled, Brandon staggered backwards a few steps. "What…what did you do that for?"

Landing silently on his feet, Meta Knight once again resheathed his sword. "It would appear you have excellent skill in battle. Tell me, child, where did you learn swordplay?"

"Swordplay? I never learned anything about swordplay…I just got this really bad feeling, saw a flash, and stopped it from killing me."

Meta Knight walked around Brandon, examining him. "Amazing. You are a mere child, with no expertise in swordplay…you probably never even saw a sword before tonight…and yet your reflexes and instincts are so great that you were able to defeat Nightmare's Elite Knights without beginning the battle with a weapon. I have never before met a child…or any creature with your kind of talents that did not learn from a master. Tell me, who are you, and where are you from?"

"My name's Brandon. I'm from Kanto."

"Kanto? Is that on another world? I've never heard of it."

"Probably…I've never been here. Come to think of it, when I was looking for Star earlier, Nightmare mentioned something about her being on another world…"

"Of course…the Heartless destroyed your world…"

"Destroyed? Shouldn't we have been killed if our world was destroyed?"

"No. When a world itself is destroyed, the people inhabiting it are not killed, but scattered. Scattered to other worlds, sometimes great distances apart. But distance does not matter. The Keyholes seal the worlds. They keep them separate from each other. Even if two worlds were but inches apart, it would be impossible for a normal being to cross between them."

"I see," said Brandon. He examined the Keyhole closely. It reminded him of something.

------

"_TAKE THIS, YOU UGLY FREAK!" Brandon threw a broken brick at the horrible creature that seemed to be tearing at the very world around it._

_The creature didn't seem to notice Brandon at all. Brandon continued throwing bricks at the creature while Onix, Arcanine, and Milotic were attacking it. Misdreavus flew over behind Star._

"_Misdreavus, what are you doing?"_

_Misdreavus picked up Star's pack, which had fallen on the ground, and brought it over to Brandon. "Miss…" she said, confused. She pointed back at Star, who was now charging the creature. In her hands, she held a strange looking sword…_

---

Brandon snapped back into reality. "The sword…my friend had a sword…it was in the shape of a key…does that mean something?"

Meta Knight's eyes widened. "My friend…that means EVERYTHING."


	10. Chapter 9

Star was awakened to the smell of bacon. She licked her lips anxiously. Delicious, succulent, steamy bacon…she hadn't had that in a long time. As she walked down the stairs and toward the inn's kitchen, she saw a tiny bug on the counter. In a chair pulled up to it, Sora sat…talking to the bug?

"So Jiminy…We've been training her for a few days, but I don't know how much we can do for her. I think the only real way to get a taste for battle is to actually immerse oneself INTO a battle."

"Well, Sora," said the tiny bug in a surprisingly loud voice, "I have my ways of getting around, if you need me to find her a transport."

"Would you? That'd be great!"

Riku started to interrupt. "Sora, she needs allies. There's no way she can do this alone."

"I have confidence in her."

"She's just a child, Sora. Alone, she'd be crushed."

Star was a little upset by this. She cleared her throat. "Now, what's all this about me being crushed? I do have ears, you know."

Riku looked a little embarrassed, but Sora wasn't shaken. "Riku here is a little worried about you combating the Heartless on your own. He thinks you need help."

"I'm not alone here, guys."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Just what do you mean by that?"

Star pulled the three Pokeballs off her belt, and stepped outside. "Come on out, guys, meet my new friends!"

Her Pokemon came out and all made noises that were apparently greetings.

Star smiled. "Sora, Riku, Kairi…Meet Arcanine, Milotic, and Onix. These are my Pokemon."

Riku was shocked. "What are those?"

"Those are Pokemon. They're like partners to humans."

"But how do you get them into those tiny balls?"

"You know, I'm not entirely sure. It's some kinda high tech contraptiony…thing."

Riku rolled his eyes. "How specific and detailed."

"Hey, I'm no tech expert, Riku."

Sora looked confused. "You call them your partners, yet you viciously trap them in tiny balls and let them out to do your bidding?"

"I suppose if you put it that way it sounds barbaric…but trust me, it's not like that. Once you've captured a Pokemon, you bond with it. You become friends, like you're…connected. When you send a Pokemon into battle, you use that connection to overcome your opponents through a mix of strategy, brute force, and overall fighting skill."

"Interesting," said Sora. "So, these Pokemon are your companions then?"

"Yes, they are. They each have special powers."

She pointed to each Pokemon as she spoke.

"Arcanine here's a Fire type. He can use powerful fire attacks, and also has a deadly Extremespeed attack, which he uses to go faster than the eye can see and pounce, slash, and destroy his enemies."

"Sounds brutal," commented Kairi.

"Oh, I wouldn't know. Like I said, he moves too fast to see. He seemed pretty efficient at taking out those little Heartless though."

"Anyways," she continued, "This here, is Milotic. She's a Water type. She can use powerful water attacks, as well as ice attacks. She's also a huge asset when it comes to defense."

"Lastly, we have Onix. A Rock type, who can wrap enemies to death, or can crush them under his own weight."

"You seem to know an awful lot about these Pokemon…"

"Yeah. I wasn't supposed to know about Pokemon or how to use them, but behind my dad's back I always studied them because I wanted to be a trainer."

Jiminy Cricket jumped out the doorway. "I'm very sorry to interrupt, but we really should get going if we're going to the next world in danger."

Sora snapped his fingers. "Of course! I'd almost forgotten! Star, being the Keeper of the Keyblade, it's your responsibility to save worlds in danger from the Heartless. Now that we know that you have companions, I'm sure that we've put aside any fears. Right, Riku?"

Riku sighed. "Right, Sora."

"Good. Now, you'll need supplies."

Star recalled her Pokemon. "Oh, I have supplies, they're right here in…my pack? What happened to my pack? Have you guys seen my pack?"

"No, when you arrived here, you didn't have a pack."

Star looked down at the ground. "Great. I can only hope that Brandon has it…he doesn't have a sword like me…who knows what kind of trouble he could be in? If he has the pack, it'd put me at ease."

Jiminy jumped up. "How very rude of me!" He jumped on Star's hand and shook her index finger profusely. "Pleased to meet you! Jiminy Cricket's the name! I know just about everyone and everything in almost all the worlds in our system…or, at least, I used to. I traveled with the last Keeper and chronicled his journey. I suppose my information would be outdated by now…Oh well. So you're Star, then, eh?"

Star flinched slightly in confusion. She wasn't used to talking bugs. "Um…Nice to meet you too, Mr. Cricket."

The joyful little bug did a backflip and landed on Star's head. "Please, 'Mr. Cricket' is so formal! Call me Jiminy!"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Trust me. Call him Jiminy or you'll regret it for the rest of your life. Now, you two had better be off." Sora handed her a pack, which she graciously slung over her shoulders.

"Thank you, Sora."

"No problem, Star. Just remember, you don't have an unlimited number of supplies in there. If you ever run low, you should look for new ones. You may find shops along the way as well, but without the currency used in each world, you can't really buy anything."

Star wasn't discouraged. "No problem. I'll just have to be careful. See you guys later!"

Sora, Riku, and Kairi waved goodbye as Star walked away. Riku smiled. "A little overzealous, but I think she can pull it off."

Sora laughed. "If I didn't think she could pull it off, I wouldn't have sent her to a dangerous, Heartless-infested world."

Riku laughed as well. "No, I suppose you wouldn't have."

"So, Jiminy…" asked Star tentatively, "how exactly are we supposed to get to another world?"

"Well," said Jiminy, "a friend of mine's been working hard on a special spaceship. One that can even break the boundaries between worlds. He just calls it 'The Ship'."

"Hm. You'd think if he was smart enough to invent a ship that cool, he'd come up with a better name."

"I'd be careful who you insult around here, if I were you," said a voice.

Star turned around to see a young man, perhaps slightly older than her, about six feet tall with short brown hair. "Who are you?"

The man stuck out his hand, offering it to her to shake. "Name's Larry. And you?"

Star shook his hand. "My name's Star. Larry, huh? That's an interesting name."

Jiminy smiled. "Long time no see, Larry. You got that ship done yet?"

Larry laughed. "Of course I got it done. I had it done months ago. It's been tested and is officially ready for whatever we'd use it for. But I don't quite know what we'd use it for."

Jiminy jumped down from Star's head. "Sorry, Larry, but I do. The Heartless are back."

Larry's eyes widened in fear. "The Heartless? I haven't heard of them since that day, eight years ago when they tried to take over my old home, Traverse Town."

"Yes, and they were defeated…or so we thought. But now, they're back. Someone new is commanding them."

"So, Jiminy…who's the poor sap that got dragged into this mess today?"

Jiminy cleared his throat.

Confused, Larry looked at Jiminy for a second then looked back up at Star, who appeared nervous.

"Oh."

"Don't worry about it," said Jiminy reassuringly to Star, "you'll be fine."

Larry smiled. "Jiminy hasn't been wrong yet! Follow me, guys, I'll show you to your ship."

Larry led them away from the open brick street to a small garage in the outskirts of the town. He lifted the door a small amount, careful not to let anyone on the street see what was inside. He ushered them into the garage and slammed the door. As he turned on a light, Jiminy and Star were able to see the ship.

"That's it?" asked Star, unimpressed.

Indeed, the little ship didn't seem like much. It looked like it could only fit three people. It was a nice shiny chrome, and resembled a stealth fighter, but the size put Star off.

Larry laughed heartily. "I know it doesn't look like much, but trust me. When you get in, and pilot it, you'll love it."

Star scratched her head. "I don't know how to fly a spaceship!"

"You don't have to know how. It flies itself. I put in a sensor that senses large groups of Heartless."

Jiminy raised an eyebrow. "Why did you do that when it seemed like the Heartless were gone for good?"

Larry sighed heavily. "I didn't want to at first; I didn't want to believe they could come back. But I had a hunch."

"I understand. Your hunches are usually right."

"Darn right, they are. Now you two go on and get in. It'll take a little while for you to get there anyway, so there's no sense in wasting time. I'll be waiting here if you get back."

They stepped into the ship, and the door closed and sealed itself. Star suddenly had a chill run down her spine. "If?"

The roof opened up, and the ship took off, blinking away in the distance like the disappearing stars.


	11. Chapter 10

It wasn't a long ride. Star had no more than looked out the window once when suddenly a red light flashed on the elaborate console on the ship's dashboard. It read "Destination Reached. Location: Unknown World, Third Sector."

"Unknown? That can't be good," said Star suspiciously. The ship rocked slightly.

Startled, Star looked out the window. They were in an ocean! As she opened the door to the ship, she stepped out onto it and saw a gigantic wooden boat. It had black sails and an elaborate decorative carving on it. As it went by them, a voice shouted down at Jiminy and Star. "Oi! What are you two doing down there?"

"Excuse me, sir!" shouted Star. "We're lost! Could you give us a lift?"

"I suppose I could, if'n ya kept quiet about it around the captain. He's not too happy right now, what with the Heartless reappearin' and all, and—"

The man was cut off. "Mr. Gibbs! Who are you talking to?"

The man turned to a scruffy-looking man with a bandana and a three-pointed hat, with his long hair tangled into nasty knots that resembled dreadlocks. "Sir, there's a little girl out here in the ocean…she's in some sort of vessel of some kind, like none I've ever seen, sir!"

The man looked down at Star, and back at Mr. Gibbs. "Well, then bring her aboard! Can't leave poor young people of the female persuasion alone at sea, stranded, now can we?" He smiled crookedly.

Gibbs pulled Star up onto the deck, and Jiminy hid in Star's pack. He didn't feel like getting involved with anything. The ship seemed to fold itself into a small box, which Star caught as it fell down, swiftly placing it in her pack.

The scruffy man laughed. "Well, now, aren't we quite the magician?" He leaned in close. "Now, then, young lady…may I ask your name?"

"My name's Star," she said enthusiastically, "and I'm here to help! Who are you?"

The man laughed again. "Here to help, she says. Tell me now, child, how exactly do you think you can help?"

"I'm the chosen one! I have a Keyblade. I'm here to get rid of the Heartless."

The man was intrigued. "A Keyblade…interesting. Well, if you're really here to help, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you who I am. Allow me to introduce myself."

Gibbs interrupted. "That there's Jack Sparrow, the—"

Jack interrupted as well. "CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow, if you please, and thank you, Mr. Gibbs, but I believe I am fully capable of introducing myself to such a fine young lady."

Star would have blushed, if she didn't find the man so repulsive. The man reached in to shake her hand, and said, "Very nice to meet you, little Star. Now tell me, where are you from, and where are you off to in such a hurry?"

Star was suspicious. Something about this man didn't seem right…something other than his rancid breath. "Well, Captain Sparrow, I would answer that question, but I don't know…"

Jack smiled. "You don't know if you can trust me. You're here, all alone, on a new world, not quite understanding how things here work, and you meet up with a horribly unclean little man on a ship with a ragged crew, origins unknown, bound for places you've probably never heard of."

"That was very long-winded, but right."

Jack smiled more widely, and held out his arms, apparently showing himself off as though he were king of the world. "I'm Jack Sparrow, luv!" He waved his hands, letting Star see his many elaborate rings. "I'm clever. I know more than people think they know about themselves because they reveal it to me before I let them know I know it!"

"What?"

"Exactly."

"SQUAAAAK! MAKE HER WALK THE PLANK!"

"I beg your pardon?!" Star exclaimed.

A man with a blue and yellow parrot on his shoulder walked by. Jack smiled nervously. "Don't mind the bird, luv, it doesn't know what it's saying."

"There's something about this ship…"

Jack staggered back, clutching his heart as if he'd been shot. "Oh, I'm afraid you've found out…" He smiled and walked back toward her. "That's right. I'm a pirate."

Star, feeling threatened, summoned the Keyblade and brought it to Jack's throat. Surprised, Jack took a step back. But he wasn't frightened. Instead, he seemed ecstatic. "So you really DO have a Keyblade? Interesting…"

Star pressed Jack back further. "Don't toy with me; I'm not in the mood."

"Now, now, luv, there's no need to be sour. I've done nothing to you. I'm just a simple pirate trying to make an honest pirate living," Jack smirked.

"You're not working for the Heartless?"

Jack smiled mischievously. "Pirate's honor."

Two figures walked out of the cabin. "Now," said a woman, "I think the girl may doubt the honor of a pirate."

A man then said, "As she well should. Many pirates shouldn't be trusted. But I think with Captain Jack Sparrow, you can ease your suspicions…slightly anyway."

Jack nervously laughed and stepped away from Star, who put away her Keyblade. "Elizabeth, William, how are you two? I trust you're enjoying your stay here on the Pearl?"

Will smiled. "Oh, come now, Jack, you married us here on this boat...there's no reason to feel threatened by us! We're here to have a little fun. After all, I do like my job as a blacksmith, but what's more interesting is the life of a pirate."

Jack laughed heartily. "That it is, my friend; that it is."

Jack leaned over to Star, pointed discreetly at Will, and mouthed the word _'Eunuch'_.

Star giggled softly.

"I heard that!"

"Heard what? I didn't say anything. Must've been the bird!"

"SQUAAAAAAK! DON'T BLAME ME FOR YOUR OWN MISTAKES!"

"Oh, shut up."

Star turned to Jack, Will, and Elizabeth. "So, do you guys know what's going on?"

Will looked concerned. "Not entirely. The Heartless began appearing again a few days ago. The place hasn't been the same since. At night, a great fog appears, and the men swear they see…"

"See what?"

Elizabeth looked annoyed that Will was hesitant to finish his story. "The Flying Dutchman."

"The Flying Dutchman? What's that?"

Will and Elizabeth looked at each other. Jack leaned in close. "Tell me, luv. Have you ever heard of…Davy Jones?"

"Um…no."

"Well, then. I suppose you should know if you're the Keeper, now, shouldn't you?"

Will rolled his eyes. "Jack, let's let Tia Dalma tell her the story, okay? Last thing we need is for her to hear your hours of mindless dribble about yourself."

Elizabeth laughed. "He's right, Jack. You're not really that interesting."

Jack smirked. "Sticks and stones, luv. Mr. Gibbs!"

Gibbs looked down at the deck nervously. "Aye, Captain?"

"It would appear we have a need to go upriver."

Gibbs sighed. "Aye, Captain."


	12. Chapter 11

A smiling woman greeted them at the door anxiously. Her lips looked like those of a mummy, and her breath was almost as rank as Jack's. Her hair was more unruly, and her abode appeared even more so.

"Jack Sparrow! I knew de winds would blow ya back ta me soomday."

"Tia Dalma! Hello. My, you're looking…well, you're looking rather fetching, but I'm not really here for pleasantries," Jack said nervously.

The woman frowned a little, but smiled mysteriously. "Ya neva WERE a man for the pleasantries of a woman, Jack Sparrow. At least, not as much as the woman desired."

Tia Dalma turned toward Star. "You…you have a touch of destiny aboot you, Star Brooke Stone."

Will laughed to himself. "She probably greets everyone like that, just to show off," he joked to Elizabeth.

"I 'eard that, Mr. Turner," Tia Dalma said sharply. She turned back to Star and smiled. "Please, sit doon. What can I do for sooch a fine yoong lady?"

Jack interrupted. "That's not just a fine young lady. That just so happens to be the Keeper of the Keyblade, here to help defeat the Heartless."

Tia Dalma shot a glance at Jack. "If I did'na already know dat, I woold have asked HER, not you, Jack."

"Tia Dalma, why so sour? Have I displeased you?"

"No, ya have not displeased me, but ya have not pleased me either, Jack Sparrow. Now sit doon," she said sharply. She turned back to Star and smiled again. "Now, what does the Key Keeper require from Tia Dalma?"

"Well," said Star, "to tell the truth, I don't need something, really…"

Jack interrupted again. "She's not looking for an item…she's looking for information."

"T'ank you, Jack, but I t'ink de girl can talk for herself. What is it ya need te know aboot?"

"Please, Tia Dalma…tell me all you know about…Davy Jones."

"Ah, yes…Davy Jones. De infamous sailor. 'e was a man of de sea, until 'e came upon dat which vexes all men…"

Star looked confused. "What vexes all men?"

Everyone looked at Jack, who was nearly asleep in his chair. "Hm? Oh, don't look at me. I've already 'eard this once before, and it's not really all that interesting the second time."

Tia Dalma rolled her eyes. "A woman."

"I see. But what does this have to do with anything?"

"Ya see, he never stopped loving her…but de pain…it was too much to bear. So, he coot oot him 'eart, an' he put it in a chest."

"He cut out his own heart? That seems a bit…harsh. Not to mention it makes me wanna lose my lunch."

"Perhaps. But it wasn't wort' what small, fleeting joy life brought him. Den he lock de chest, and hid it away from de world. Now he roams de seas, claiming lost souls as his crew, promising to postpone deir judgment."

"That's cruel!"

"Davy Jones no longer has a heart to feel anyting but cruelty."

"That's terrible…why couldn't he just tell the woman he loved her?"

"Dat is a story for another time, child. De important ting is dat you find de Keyhole and seal it before any more Heartless make it to our world."

Jack suddenly became interested. "Yes, the Keyhole…I think I know where that might be located…"

"Do you, now, Jack Sparrow?"

"Why yes, I believe I do."

"And where would that be?" asked Star.

"I thought it would be quite obvious. If Davy Jones' crew has been replaced with Heartless, then who is trying to control the Heartless but Davy Jones? And if Davy Jones is trying to control the Heartless, then he must be the one that released them. And how would he know where the Keyhole was?"

Everyone looked at Jack blankly.

"None of you are all that bright, are you? It's obvious that the Keyhole is located inside the Dead Man's Chest."

"So, brilliant Captain," Star said, slightly annoyed, "what's our next move?"

"We're headed for Isla Cruces, the island where the Dead Man's Chest is located. We're going to take the chest for our own…as soon as we find the key."

"What's the key look like?" asked Star.

Jack just laughed. "You're holding it, luv. That little sword of yours is the key to unlock any lock…even the lock on the Dead Man's Chest."

Star smiled. "It's pretty cool, isn't it?"

Jack smirked. "Yes, luv. An amazing tool, that Keyblade. Amazing indeed."

They walked out toward the boats, knowing they'd be taking the Black Pearl to Isla Cruces.


	13. Chapter 12

Star stood at the bow of the Black Pearl, her hair flowing gently with the wind like its enormous sails. The wooden deck shone like a mirror, reflecting the slightly cloudy sky above as clearly as if it were polished. Being a pirate ship, obviously, the deck was most certainly not polished, but Star was more interested in the soft, gentle breeze than the deck's quality. The sea was so peaceful. She even thought she'd seen a dolphin jump, but Jack had told her there weren't any dolphins in these waters. Oh, well. At least the sea was calm. The deep blue of the ocean hypnotized her, and she drifted off into a daydream.

When she opened her eyes, she saw only blackness.

_To lock the Keyhole, you'll need the proper Key._

Star pulled out the Keyblade, and examined it.

_You will need this to continue your journey._

Suddenly, the Keychain of her Keyblade turned a strange color, and the Keyblade itself transformed. It took the shape of an old key, with two projections on it. Each had a small extension on it that made it seem even more like a key…It was pure black, and appeared a relic.

Suddenly, Star snapped back into reality. She held the Keyblade in its new form.

"Well, now. Isn't that interesting?"

Star turned around to see Jack, who had apparently had one too many bottles of rum.

"What is it, Jack?"

"What is it? Why, luv…it's the key to the Dead Man's Chest, is what it is. I thought the wielder of the Keyblade could have figured that out on her own. Perhaps it would be better were the blade in more…capable hands."

Star's eyes narrowed. "And whose hands would THOSE be, Captain Sparrow?"

"No one's in particular, luv. Simply stating an observation."

Star, slightly annoyed, brought the Keyblade a leisurely distance from Jack's throat. "Maybe your observation was flawed."

Jack smirked, and stroked the Keyblade's side with his right index finger. "Perhaps. But I often make correct observations as well, so you never can tell."

Jack, walking away, turned to Gibbs once he was out of hearing range of Star. "Mr. Gibbs. I believe I am still owed one Keyblade. I intend to receive that payment."

"And how do you intend to do that?"

"Leverage, Mr. Gibbs. Once the Heartless are defeated and Davy Jones is sent back to his own locker, our good friend Star will have found herself indebted to us for our help. And then I will have her know what I require to relinquish that debt."

"And if she refuses, Captain?"

"Simple, Mr. Gibbs. She will not."

"How do you know she won't refuse?"

"Because, Mr. Gibbs. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow." He smiled crookedly.

Star yawned. Why was she tired at noon? She wasn't about to stop listening to her instincts, however. She walked across the shining wooden deck toward the cabin, with elaborate but dark stained glass windows. Given exclusive privileges to the cabin, she walked in, shut and locked the door, plopped down onto the bed, and went to sleep.

Brandon stood in the dark of the forest, pondering. "So, Meta Knight…what you're telling me is that Star has been chosen to wield the most powerful weapon in the world to try to defeat a terrible evil that steals people's hearts?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"I see. Where do I come in here then?"

"That, my friend, is entirely up to you. Now is the time of choosing sides. You can side with the Heartless and the Darkness, or you can side with your friend and the light."

"You must be crazy for even THINKING I might side against Star!" Brandon said defensively.

Meta Knight laughed. "Just the response I wanted to hear."

"So what do I do now?"

Meta Knight pulled out a small capsule, about the size of a chicken's egg. "You'll need this. It'll help you to find your friend."

Brandon accepted the capsule, and held it in his hand, eyeing it. "It doesn't look like much….what's it do? How's it work?"

"You simply twist the capsule to the world you want to go to, and tap the little button on the top. It'll transport you to that world. As of yet, it doesn't know all of the worlds in existence, but it is constantly updating itself."

"How does it do that?" asked Brandon, confused.

Meta Knight simply began to walk away. "Keep that sword you have. It is very powerful. More powerful than you know. It will help you in your quest. Now go. Nightmare will be looking for you. It's best you're not here when he comes."

Brandon shrugged, twisted the capsule, and pressed the button. He didn't see the name of the world he chose, but he didn't care. He didn't even know where to start anyway. Suddenly, the capsule shook violently, and the world around him began to fade. The deep blackness of the sky with the twilight of the stars began to blend together into a pure white light, and he was in an empty void.

"Hm…" he said to himself. "This must be the place between worlds."

He didn't have time to say anything else to himself, though, as he was attacked.


	14. Chapter 13

"We've come up on land, Captain!"

The sound of Gibbs' voice woke Star sharply. She looked out the window and saw a seemingly deserted island, covered with sand up until a treeline that signaled the beginning of a dense tropical forest. It was striking to see the contrast between the dull grey-brown of the sand and the vibrant, vivid green of the rainforest.

As Star walked out of the cabin, Jack greeted her with his same crooked smile. "I trust you slept well, luv? I must admit my bed is VERY comfortable."

Star gagged, disgusted. "Where are we?"

"This, my good lady, is Isla Cruces. Legend has it that it is here where our good friend Mr. Jones keeps his chest."

Star looked at Jack's hand, which was clasping something. "What's that?" she pointed.

Jack took a step back. "Oh, this? This is my compass. It points to the thing you want most in this world."

"So that's how you found Isla Cruces, is it?"

Jack frowned. "Yes…very perceptive of you, luv. You have a pirate's wit, you do."

He turned away. He didn't want her to see that the compass was as of that moment pointing directly at the hand of Star that wielded the Keyblade. He pocketed the compass, put on a cheery grin, and turned back toward Star.

"Well, now, if we're going to find the chest, we'll have to start digging now, as it were."

The bright blue skies were cloudless and beautiful as Star, Jack, Will, and Elizabeth made their way across the small amount of sea between the point where they had left the Pearl and Isla Cruces. Star muttered bitterly to herself. The little rickety rowboat was tough to move across the tumultuous shallows. "I don't understand why I have to do this," Star said angrily.

"Come on, now, luv, it's your adventure! If I didn't let you take a part in your own adventure I wouldn't be the man I am today."

"That's just pirate talk for 'I'm lazy', isn't it?"

"Less talk and more paddle, luv, or we'll never make it to the island before the tide washes the boat away."

"Shut up, already, Jack, we're here!" she said, annoyed, as the boat hit the soft sand of the shore.

Star was the first to jump out of the boat. She kneeled down on the ground, and scooped up a handful of sand. It was grainy and gritty to the touch. She brought it close to her face. It smelled of salt and fish…and wood. This should mean something to her, but she wasn't an expert in tracking or wilderness…or anything of that sort, so she simply said, "It's good to be back on land."

Jack threw her a shovel from inside the boat, which she had to quickly drop the sand to catch. She muttered angrily at him.

"Come on now, luv, you can't expect me to do ALL the work."

"You haven't done ANY work, you idiot!"

Elizabeth and Will, feeling tension, decided to step in. "Come on," said Will, "let's go find that chest."

Elizabeth grabbed a shovel and jumped readily out of the boat. "Enough talk, let's do it!"

Jack stood up and pulled out his compass. "Okay! We'll start digging in…" he paused, waving his finger in the air. Something about the compass was disturbing him. "…a general…" he pointed to his right, abruptly. "…THAT WAY direction."

Star raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?"

Jack slammed the compass shut and pocketed it. "Of course I'm sure. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. Now let's go, we have no time to lose! Our good friend Mr. Jones is sure to be onto us by now."

Jack walked out of the boat carefully, but slightly drunkenly, and led the way.

Star, following slightly further behind than Will and Elizabeth, was suspicious. Something wasn't right. Suddenly, Star jerked her head around. She thought she heard a splashing noise…like something was coming out of the water. Seeing nothing, she shrugged it off. It must have just been the tide. The foursome trekked on toward wherever it was that Jack was leading them.

Miles and miles of sand stretched behind and in front of them. All they could see was the sand, the ocean, their footprints, the forest, and a little oasis in the corner of the beach. They figured the oasis was their best bet to find the chest.

"You see," said Jack, as if someone was listening, "any good pirate would bury a chest of value somewhere he could find easily…but somewhere someone else couldn't find quite so easily. Therefore, the chest must be in the vicinity of that oasis…just not directly under it."

Star looked up from the ground absent-mindedly. "I'm sorry, were you saying something?"

"You should learn a proper respect for your elders, luv. I'd be willing to wager that—"

"What's that?!" Star exclaimed, pointing at the oasis.

The little patch of green had a lone figure standing there, a humanlike figure with a distinct hammer-shaped head, almost like a shark's head.

Jack smiled. "Well, if it isn't one of Davy Jones' crew. It appears we've found the Dead Man's Chest. How fortunate for us."

Star grinned. "I got this one."

Jack looked concerned. "No, wait…maybe we should surprise…"

"HEY UGLY! YOU LOOKIN' FOR SOMETHING?"

"…him."

The creature turned its head. Seeing Jack, Star, Will, and Elizabeth, it picked up the chest and ran toward the sea. Star, seeing where the creature was headed, ran as fast as she could, and cut it off.

"Hi, there. If you want to keep your head…" she said, drawing her Keyblade. It made a loud clanging noise as it was brought out. "…I'd suggest you hand over the chest."

The creature dropped the chest and whistled. Suddenly, two more creatures popped up from the water and surrounded Star. They laughed evilly. Each one was as ugly as the hammer-headed one. They all were a sort of mix between a human and some sort of sea creature. The creatures drew their swords and advanced on Star. She easily avoided the attack to her left and, clashing her Keyblade against the sword of the creature in front of her, she guided it directly into the gut of the creature behind her.

She smirked triumphantly. "Not so easy to beat a little girl, is it?"

Angrily, the creature ripped his sword free from the other creature's chest, exposing a wound that quickly healed over.

Star jumped back in surprise. "What the heck are you?"

The creatures simply smiled, and advanced on her.


	15. Chapter 14

With the void around him, Brandon could have sworn he was alone, but he wasn't. Suddenly, thousands of tiny silver creatures attacked him, wildly swinging small, fragile-looking arms with apparently very sharp fingers on the ends. It only took the blood spilling from one hit to his right arm to cause Brandon to realize that this was real, and that he shouldn't let these things hit him. So he tried to fight back. He blocked the attacks with his sword for a few seconds, but they slowly increased in frequency until they were attacking almost once per second.

Brandon struggled out words to himself as he continued to try to block the creatures from attacking. "What…the…heck…are…these…things?!"

He was hit very hard with a blunt arm from one of the creatures, which caused something in his brain to snap. His blocks suddenly turned into a frenzy of attacks. "You…ugly…freaks…need…to…back…off…NOW!"

With the last word, Brandon brought around a mighty slash that removed the heads of eight of the creatures surrounding him. He was then able to see that there appeared to be no end to the creatures. No matter how many he destroyed, there were still thousands to take their place. His heart sank. How was he going to pull this off? He didn't have time to think, because he had to swiftly block a direct attack on his head from one of the creatures. He heard a sound behind him, and turned to see a kid, about his age and height, with short brown hair and a very thin build. He held a sword in his hand that was plunged into the heart of one of the silver creatures.

The kid looked back and smiled. "You looked like you could use some help."

"Who are you?" asked Brandon.

"Not important right now. Let's take care of these guys first. They never know when to quit."

"But…how are we gonna do that?"

The kid smiled wider. "Just watch."

He brought his blade to his left side as the creature that was impaled with it disappeared. He forced the blade to his right through the air, creating a shockwave that was so powerful that its effects were completely visible as the air vibrated toward half of the surrounding creatures. When he brought his blade over his shoulder, Brandon was able to see that it was a blade made of pure diamond. It shone in the white light more brilliantly than Brandon had ever seen, and its intricately carved edges would have made Brandon drool, had he been interested in that sort of thing.

The kid laughed. "Like it? It's the Diamond Wind Blade. It can control the power of the very air. It's really sought after, but it kind of already has an owner. Its previous owner is…currently indisposed."

The rest of the creatures charged at Brandon, but many of the creatures clumsily hit their comrades, and annihilated each other fairly quickly. Brandon wiped out the few remaining creatures almost as quickly as the new kid had.

Brandon stood, marveling at his own fighting ability.

The kid laughed. "Not a very interesting fight, huh? They never were that great. Part of the reason I'm not part of their little 'club'."

"Huh?"

The kid's eyes widened. "Hm? Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself." He sheathed his broadsword on his back and held out his right hand to shake. "Name's Xanthas."

Brandon shook his hand hesitantly. The guy obviously wasn't all bad, after all, he helped him, but he still wasn't sure what he was up to. "So, why are you here?"

Xanthas looked down at the ground. "I don't think I can trust you with that information right now. They might be watching. They may well be already on their way. We need to get moving, pronto."

"But why do we need to…"

"Don't ask questions. How did you get here? Can you get us somewhere else the same way?"

"Yes, I can, but…"

"No time to explain. Get us somewhere else, anywhere else. Then I can tell you what's going on."

"Listen, man, I don't know who you are, but you're getting on my nerves here. You'd better…"

"Fine, you can fight me later if you want, but I'm telling you that it is NOT SAFE here right now. We need to GET MOVING."

Brandon brought out the egg-shaped transportation device and dialed a random world. "Fine."

He grabbed onto Xanthas' hand and the two disappeared, headed for wherever the egg-shaped contraption was going to take them.


	16. Chapter 15

Star tried to fight back the creatures, but to no avail. They were very good at swordplay, and were able to block every single one of her attacks. She just needed to give herself an opening. Something that would catch them off guard. But what? She drug her Keyblade back across the sand in thought as she prepared to swing at the creatures again. Suddenly, she got an idea. She smiled evilly. With a huge stroke of the Keyblade, she kicked a cloud of sand up into the air, blinding the creatures. Taking the opportunity, she swung the Keyblade with full force three times, managing to strike each creature across the chest. She half-expected the creatures to heal themselves like the one had when it was impaled with its comrade's sword, but when the sand cleared, she saw the three creatures disappear in puffs of purple smoke.

"That's right!" she exclaimed triumphantly. "Don't mess with Star, or you're in for a beating!"

As she walked over to where the chest was, she saw Jack, Will, and Elizabeth already standing over it, frowning. When Star walked over, she saw why. There was a hole in the sand where the chest had been, but the chest was missing. Inscribed in the sand in elaborate script were the words _You're too late, Sparrow._

Jack's eyes narrowed in anger. "Jones."

Star was angry. "C'mon, Jack, he couldn't have gotten far, let's get back to the Pearl."

Jack nodded, and the four headed for the boat. They paddled back out to the Black Pearl. Once back aboard the Pearl, Jack was ready to pursue Davy Jones. Or, at least, he would have been, had he known where Jones was. He pondered for a moment, and looked up at the sails. Watching them blow, he had an idea.

"Mr. Gibbs!"

"Aye, Captain?"

"The Dutchman is infamous for stalking its prey against the wind, is it not?"

"Aye, Captain, it is, but I don't see how…"

"Perhaps we should do the same. Follow the wind, and we'll find the Dutchman."

"But Captain, we can't possibly move as fast as the Dutchman against the wind!"

"You leave that to me, Mr. Gibbs." Jack looked over at Star, who was holding the Keyblade, and smirked. "Star, my friend. I have a proposition for you."

Jack walked over to Star, and explained his plan.

"So you see, Star, if you were to control the wind with that little Key of yours, we could catch up to the Dutchman."

"Jack, I don't know the first thing about magic."

"Hold that thought."

Jack quickly ran into his cabin, and ran back out, carrying a small book. The title was _Magic of the Ages: Unlocking the Key_. It had a picture of the Keyblade on it.

"What is this?" asked Star.

"It is a book, written by one Sora, on his experiences with using the Keyblade."

Star raised an eyebrow. "And how did you come across this book?"

"Not important. Just open it."

"By the time I've read the book, Jones will be miles and miles away!"

Jack just stared at her blankly. "Read?"

"Yes, read. That's normally what you do with books. You read them."

"Star, I'm disappointed. I would have thought the savior of worlds would be a little smarter than that." He smirked, held the book up to her, and opened it so that the pages faced her.  
Suddenly, a greenish light burst from the book, engulfing Star, nearly causing everyone on deck who was watching to have a seizure. Jack, who had a very triumphant smile on his face, closed the book and laughed quietly for a second. "So, Star. How do you feel?"

Star swung the Keyblade slowly, concentrating on it. Small electric sparks slowly ran across it, causing little flames to flicker. The wind began to blow a little harder, and the sea splashed up against the deck.

Star smiled, her eyes narrowing almost evilly. "I feel like catching up to Davy Jones."

Jack smirked. "Excellent."

Star pointed the Keyblade at the sails of the Pearl, and let loose a mighty swing. The Pearl moved faster than it seemed any boat could travel, and it wasn't long until the Flying Dutchman was in their sight.

"There it is, my friends. The Flying Dutchman. I think it's time we paid our friend Mr. Jones a little visit."

Star swung the Keyblade at the sails again, and they were parallel to the Dutchman. Jack took the opportunity to walk up to the starboard side of the deck and look upon the ship. "Oy! Jones! Come out for a moment! I've got a bone to pick with you!"

Jack laughed and turned around to tell Star what to do next, but instead found Davy Jones himself standing directly in front of his nose.

"It's been too long, Sparrow. You know you've a debt to pay."

"Yes, about that. I don't think I owe you that debt."

"Excuse me?" Davy Jones walked toward Sparrow, backing him into the rails of the ship. He pointed his huge, clawed hand at Jack while his face tentacles wriggled violently, showing his anger. "You've been Captain of the Black Pearl for thirteen years. THAT was our agreement."

"Well, see," Jack attempted to weasel his way out, "actually, I was ACTUALLY only Captain for two years, and then I was VICIOUSLY mutineed upon."

"Well, then you were a POOR Captain, but a Captain nonetheless. Did you not introduce yourself for all those years as 'CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW'?"

Davy Jones laughed evilly.

"Well, I…"

"You're not going to talk yourself out of this one, Sparrow. One soul, bound to serve a hundred years."

"Excuse me? Is there a problem here?" asked Star arrogantly.

"Stay out of this, little girl, this isn't your affair."

Davy Jones waved his clawed hand in the air, and several strange sea creatures appeared.

"Heartless! Restrain the girl!"

Star smirked. This 'Jones' wasn't very bright. All the more fun for her.


	17. Chapter 16

Xanthas and Brandon jumped as they appeared in the new world. They looked around. They seemed to be in some sort of building. The walls were all chrome-plated, and there was a strange noise coming from the right side of the room.

Xanthas cracked his neck to each side. "Well, that was an interesting ride. Hm. Nice place. Seems like it would be a good place to hide from something."

Suddenly, a voice sounded. "Hands in the air, punks!"

Brandon was about to say something when Xanthas turned into the direction of the voice. "Excuse me?"'

"Just do as I say or I'll blast you!" said a shadow near the edge of the light in the room. It held a strange looking weapon. It looked like a gun, but it had a glow to it, almost.

"And just who might you be, my mysterious ambusher? Friend? Or foe?"

"I said, put your hands up."

The creature cocked the gun.

Xanthas laughed. "Very well, then, I'll play your little game. Do as the man says, Brandon. I'm sure no harm will come to us."

Brandon, with a face full of disgust, reluctantly threw his hands into the air.

Xanthas casually reached his hands toward the ceiling as well. "So, my friend, do you have a name? Or would you at least mind telling some lost travelers where they are?"

The creature walked out of the shadows, revealing a long snout, large pointed ears, and tan fur. "Name's Fox. As for where you are right now, you're right in the middle of my ship. Now, I have a question for you punks."

He walked up to Xanthas and stuck his gun right to his ear. "Just who are you two, and what are you doing here?"

Xanthas' face developed an almost pouting expression. "We're simply travelers, lost, running from a terrible evil. We mean you no harm."

Fox jabbed the barrel of his pistol further into Xanthas' ear. "How do I know you freaks aren't working with Andross and the Heartless?"

Xanthas nearly jumped at recognizing this word. "Heartless? What do you know of the Heartless?"

"I know they're a pain in the tail, and that they're trying to wipe out our peaceful galaxy."

Xanthas laughed. "My friend, if you only knew the half of what they're planning."

Brandon spoke up. "Oh, yeah? Then, what ARE they planning?"

Fox looked at Brandon, and then returned his focus to Xanthas. "You know, I'm a little curious myself. How do you know so much?"

Xanthas smiled. "I know so much because I've seen the Heartless in action. I've been tracking the Heartless, trying to thwart their plans for some time now. Unfortunately, lately, I've been under a lot of stress."

"Is that so?" Fox pulled his gun away slightly. "Tell me more."

"Yes, well I won't go into great detail, but let's just say there's this group of people that wanted me for…my…talents. I told them no, and they didn't seem to like that answer."

"They a bad group?" asked Fox.

"One of the worst. They planned to take over all the worlds at one point, or at least their leader did."

"Hm…perhaps I misjudged you."

Fox pulled away his gun.

"Thanks for that," said Xanthas politely. "That thing was hurting my ear."

Fox began to walk, beckoning them to follow. "Had I pulled the trigger, you wouldn't have felt a thing."

Xanthas laughed heartily. "I suppose I wouldn't have. By the way, nice place you got here, Fox. Very modern, sleek, and stylish."

"Thank you. This is the Great Fox. It's the command ship for the Corneria Guard. I've been commander here for a long time, and I'm a celebrated war veteran."

"I can tell. You definitely have the attitude a soldier needs in battle, and you are definitely well-equipped," said Xanthas, looking at Fox's belt, which was decorated with all sorts of strange weapons.

Brandon leaned over to Xanthas and whispered while they were walking. "Why are you talking to him like that? You think it'll get us free?"

Xanthas simply said, "It's common courtesy to flatter one's host, my friend. I certainly hope that you haven't forgotten your common courtesy."

Brandon rolled his eyes and kept walking. "Idiot."

Xanthas fingered the sword on his back. "I heard that, you know."

Fox sighed. "Will you two just shut up and follow me?"

Suddenly, Xanthas froze. _What's happening?_

Xanthas found himself floating in a dark void. _What's going on? I…I…I remember now. I remember…my true name._

---

_Asher walked up to Trista and kissed her softly on the lips. "It's good to see you again, after so long. There's something I've been meaning to ask you."_

"_Oh?" Trista said, pretending to be surprised. "And what might that be?"_

_Asher got down on one knee, and pulled out a small box. "Trista, will you marry me?"_

_Trista started crying._

"_What's wrong? Do you not want to go through with it?"_

_Tears still filling her eyes, Trista smiled and laughed. "Of course I want to go through with it, you idiot."_

_Asher frowned. "Well, then why are you crying?"_

"_Some people cry when they're happy."_

_He wiped a tear from her eyes. "Well, I don't want you to cry. I want you to smile."_

_Trista took the ring from the little box, and examined it carefully._

"_I know you said you didn't like diamonds, but I figured you'd make an exception in this case. It isn't too much, is it?"_

_Trista put on the ring, and admired it on her finger. She pulled Asher up and hugged him tightly. "It's perfect."_

---

Xanthas suddenly snapped back into reality. He saw Fox staring at him suspiciously. "What's wrong with you?"

Xanthas rubbed his head. "Sorry, spacing out. Where were you taking us, now?"

Fox turned back around. "You'll know when we get there."


	18. Chapter 17

Star made quick work of the Heartless that Davy Jones had commanded to restrain her. As the last Heartless burst into purple flame, Davy Jones took a cautious step back. Perhaps he needed to rethink his strategy here.

Star smirked. "Hand over the chest, Jones, if you want to keep your life."

"I don't think so, lass. Before this is over, Jack Sparrow will be a part of my Heartless crew, and you're powerless to stop me."

Jack raised a finger in protest. "Don't I have any say in this at all?"

Star and Jones turned to Jack and angrily shouted, "NO!"

Jack stepped back, defeated. "Well, then."

Star charged Jones while he was distracted, but he dodged the attack by jumping backward. She showed Jones the Keyblade by slashing it through the air, trying to intimidate him.

Jones simply laughed. "What fortuitous circumstance be this?! Here I am, commander of a crew of Heartless, with none other than the Master of the Keyblade but inches from my grasp!" He pulled out a sword. "Ye may be the chosen one, lass, but ye won't be beatin' me."

Star smiled widely. "We'll just see about that."

She attacked with the Keyblade, and Jones parried, sending the end of the blade harmlessly to the side. He then attempted a stabbing move, which Star effortlessly dodged by rolling to the right, then turned her dodge into an attack by bringing the Keyblade up with her hand as she righted herself. Jones was too slow to stop the blade from removing one of the many tentacles from his face. He screamed in pain.

Star laughed, and brought the Keyblade around for a horizontal swing, which Jones was only able to jump back to dodge, cutting a small piece of cloth from his coat. "Too slow, squid-man."

Davy Jones cursed, and walked into one of the walls of the Black Pearl's cabin. He disappeared.

Back on his ship, Jones prepared to retreat. He looked back at the Pearl, which was right next to the Dutchman. "That accursed girl will be the death of me yet. We need to put some distance between us and the Pearl. We need to…wait. Where's…"

Suddenly, Jones saw a smirking pirate jump aboard a small boat that was itself headed for the Black Pearl. As the man climbed up to the deck, Jones cursed more loudly. "SPARROW!"

Star smiled triumphantly as Jack walked up to her with his usual swagger. "You got the chest, then?"

Jack pulled the Dead Man's Chest out from behind his back. "Of course. He's not the brightest of pirates, is he?"

Star laughed. "That's what I was counting on. Now what do I do?"

Jack set the chest on the deck and scratched his head. "You know, I'm not entirely sure. I can't remember a thing about how Sora used to do this stuff."

Star was about to say something when suddenly, the Keyblade emitted a metallic noise. Suddenly, the chest lifted itself in the air. A beam appeared from the chest, which revealed a little symbol in the air. A Keyhole. Star lifted the Keyblade, which emitted a beam of its own, locking the Keyhole.

Star smiled as she lowered the Keyblade. "Well, I guess that's what I'm supposed to do."

"Glad I could help," said Jack. "However, I'm afraid that my services don't come cheap. I'm going to have to ask that…Wait. What's that noise?"

Back on the Flying Dutchman, which was now retreating, Davy Jones was very upset at the loss of the door to darkness in his world. He yelled at his Heartless crew, who were gathered around a wheel-like contraption, spinning it around and raising a clublike attachment. "Let no joyful voice be heard! Let no man look up at the sky with hope, and let this day be cursed by we who dare to summon….THE KRAKEN!"

Suddenly, the clublike attachment dropped to the deck, emitting a reverberating noise that seemed to disrupt the sea itself. Davy Jones smiled.

Star frowned. "I have a bad feeling about this, Jack."

Suddenly, the ship shook.

Jack's heart sank. "It's Jones' terrible beastie. The Kraken. It's here."

"What the heck is a Kra….aa…aaa….KRAKEN!?" Star exclaimed, as the enormous tentacles of the Kraken worked their way up the sides of the ship.

As the tentacles attempted to grab Star, she used the Keyblade to cut off two fairly quickly, but as she was about to slice a third, another one snaked up behind her and grasped her firmly around the leg. It attempted to pull her off the ship, but she grabbed hold of the wooden mast. She held on with one hand as she attempted not to let go of the Keyblade.

"JACK!" she screamed helplessly. "HELP ME! PLEASE, HELP ME!"

Jack walked up to Star, but hesitated. He looked in the hand that wasn't holding the mast. There it was. After all this time, the Keyblade was right there, finally in his grasp. After all the hard work he did learning all he could about it, so that he could wield it. All he needed to do was to reach out and take it. The Keyblade was his. He reached out his hand.

Star's grip on the mast loosened. "Jack! Help!"

Star closed her eyes, and her hand slipped. However, the tentacle wasn't pulling her away. She still felt its tug, but it was as if she was still holding on for dear life. But how? She opened her eyes. There was Jack. He'd grabbed her hand just below the Keyblade, and was pulling her away from the Kraken. Using his free hand, he grabbed his pistol from its holster and fired into the tentacle, which let go instantly, writhing in pain. Star fell to the deck.

Instead of thanking Jack, Star instantly got up and ran to the port side of the ship. She screamed in frustration, and the Keyblade emitted a horrible amount of lightning, which headed straight for the exposed tentacles of the Kraken. The Kraken shook violently for a moment, being electrocuted, then went limp.

The tentacles, with no muscle driving them anymore, fell lifelessly to the deck of the Pearl.

Jack stood in amazement. "You did it, luv. You beat the Kraken."

Star turned around, and walked up to him. She held out her hand. Jack extended his, and she shook it. "Thank you, Jack. Thank you for saving me."

Jack smiled. "It was nothing."

Star held out the Keyblade. "I guess you'll be wanting payment for your services, then?" she asked disappointedly.

Jack placed his hand on the Keyblade, but instead of grabbing it, pushed it away. "No, I don't think so. As much as I want that blade, I can see it's in far more capable hands right now. Go on, Star. Go save the world."

Star smiled. It seemed the old pirate had a heart after all. As she bid her new friends farewell, she removed the gummi ship's compressed form and threw it out to the ocean, where it instantly transformed back to its original shape. She jumped inside, and waved goodbye. Then, she zoomed off into the sky.


	19. Chapter 18

large chrome door whooshed upward, and Fox led Brandon and Xanthas into a room filled with strange electrical equipment. Beeping was heard in the background, along with the crackling of short circuits and the static of broken monitoring equipment. In a large chair stationed at a computer console sat a green frog-person, effortlessly punching away at an array of millions of buttons on multiple surrounding keyboards.

"Slippy! You fix the door yet?" asked Fox.

The frog pointed with its right hand toward the other door, saying nothing, making up for the loss of one hand bye working twice as fast on the keyboards with the other.

As Fox led them into the other room, he explained, "That's Slippy, the team's mechanic. Slippy doesn't talk much since we've been having ship troubles…"

The door whooshed halfway open, but stuck, the mechanical gears whining in protest.

Xanthas commented blandly, "I see what you mean by 'ship troubles.'"

Fox sighed. "If you only knew the half of it."

He brought out his pistol and whacked the door very hard with the handle. The door instantly gave way and rose completely.

Brandon rolled his eyes. "I suppose that's called 'using technology to solve problems.'"

As they walked into the next room, Fox twirled the pistol, put it back on his belt, and merely said, "No, that's called 'shut up or you eat plasma.'"

Brandon decided that plasma wouldn't taste very good.

Brandon and Xanthas looked down the hallway and saw many rooms. "These will be your rooms until we figure out what's going on here," Fox said.

Brandon and Xanthas each walked into a room and tested the springiness of their beds. Suddenly, an electrical sound was heard, and the doorways leading into each room glowed bright blue. Examining the rooms further, Xanthas found they appeared to be cells. Great. They were prisoners.

"I still don't know if I can trust you two."

As Brandon cursed his luck, Xanthas began examining the walls of his room and found a small button. Curious, he pressed it. A large computer protruded from the wall.

Chuckling, Fox walked away. "At least one of 'em is smart."

It only took Xanthas half a second to realize that the computer was there so he could order food from the ship. Apparently Fox treated his prisoners very well. However, as Xanthas played with the computer some more, he saw that it was much more than a cook. He could do a number of things using the computer, including shut off whatever was blocking their escape. So they weren't in cells after all. They were simply rooms, and Fox had activated a lockdown protocol code. It would have been easy to override, but Xanthas decided against it. He didn't want any trouble. He'd just wait until Fox decided he could trust them.

Brandon sighed, and decided to start a conversation. "So, what's with you, anyway? You and that Diamond Wind Blade…you're so secretive. What's going on?"

Xanthas brought out the blade. "Actually, it's called…" he flicked the blade and the edge disappeared, leaving only a hilt. "…the Nothing Blade."

"Nothing Blade? What's it do?"

"Anything you want it to. Or nothing at all. Depending on how strong you are, it obeys or disobeys you. I was stronger than its last master, so I took it from him."

"So, what's with you, anyway? You don't seem to be very…happy…or sad…or anything, really," Brandon said with a confused frown.

"I'm none of those things…because I'm a Nobody."

"That's no way to talk about yourself! Everyone's somebody!"

Xanthas sighed. "No, I'm a Nobody. I'm what's left of a person when he turns into a Heartless."

"What? You're a Heartless?"

"No, it's…more difficult to explain. But I suppose, since we have some time, I could try…"

---

_Asher ran as fast as he could down the dark alley. He hated working the night shift. There were always so many strange people roaming the streets of Tempest Town at night. All he could think about was getting home to Trista. Tomorrow was their wedding rehearsal. He smiled at the thought of it. The alley was barely lit under the street lamps, and the brick seemed to merge into a giant red block that consisted of the entire road. The air smelled distinctly of wine…and cigar smoke. Asher cringed. He hated smokers. They always filled his lungs with the nastiest…_

_Asher stopped. Suddenly, a small four-legged creature appeared in front of him, buglike in nature, but completely black, with yellow glowing eyes. It smiled a wicked smile, and before he knew it, Asher was on the ground. When he got back up, he saw the little creature giggling in triumph, holding its prize: a human heart. ASHER'S HEART._

_He got up. "What…what sorcery is this?!"_

_The creature giggled again and showed its prize to him._

_He tried to feel sad…but couldn't. He tried to be angry…but he couldn't. He could feel any emotion at all. But he could feel frustration. He was being held up from his fiancée, he was in a cold, dark alley, and to top it all off, a horrifying little freak had just stolen his heart. He had a LOT of frustration._

_Without stopping to wonder why he was still alive without his heart, he walked up to the nearest street lamp and effortlessly ripped it from the ground. "You freak…you'll pay for that!" He tensed his arms, and in one fell swing removed the head of the creature that had stolen his heart. As he dropped the lamppost and ran toward the creature, it disappeared, and his heart floated into the air and vanished._

_Was despair an emotion? He wasn't sure, but he was pretty sure he was feeling it right then. He fell to his knees in defeat. "What…what happened?"_

_A man in a black cloak appeared from the shadows behind him. "Your heart has been taken, leaving your body and soul behind. You have only those now, and your mind. You are a Nobody—a person who does not truly exist."_

"_How do you know this?"_

"_Because," said the man as he removed his hood, "I am also a Nobody."_

"_Who are you?"_

"_My name is Xemnas, and I'm here to help you. You want your heart back. I can help you get it back. Join my organization, and I shall assist you."_

"_I'm not so sure…"_

"_A doubter? Xanthas, I'm disappointed. You don't know what you want?"_

"_Xanthas?"_

"_Yes, it's going to be your name. Nobodies need fitting names…names that are not there, names that aren't real. Names that don't exist."_

"_I don't think I like you very much."_

_The man laughed._

_Xanthas stood up. "I don't think I'm going to join your organization."_

"_Organization XIII will be very disappointed. However, I will respect your wishes."_

_Suddenly, the man pulled out a sword and attacked Xanthas._

_Xanthas quickly dodged the attack and hit the man in the hand, forcing him to drop the sword. Xanthas picked it up. "I don't know why, but I'm stronger as a Nobody than I was as a human. Don't mess with me."_

"_Give me back my sword, you insolent fool!"_

_Xanthas looked at the sword, and watched it change, bending to his will. "No…I don't think I'll do that. I think it's time for you to leave."_

_He took a slash at Xemnas, who jumped back out of harm's way. "Very well. But we'll meet again, Xanthas. I assure you our next meeting won't be as pleasant as this one._

_A shadow sprung from the wall behind Xemnas and engulfed him, taking him into darkness._

_Xanthas fell to his knees yet again, pounded his fist into the ground, and swore._


	20. Chapter 19

Star didn't take long to find her next destination. She looked at the screen of the ship and saw that it read a strong evil presence in a large world called "Eurasia." She quickly set the coordinates for a remote part of that world and landed the ship. She got out, put the ship in her pocket, and called for Jiminy. Jiminy jumped out of her pocket and looked around. He saw an eerily calm emerald field, surrounded by a lush medieval forest.

"Ever see this place before, Jiminy?"

"Nope. Never in my life. Looks really pretty, though."

No sooner had Jiminy said that then Star heard a horrible screaming noise emitted from her left. She saw a large hill with a figure on the top, holding a smaller figure by the head. As she approached the hill, she saw that the smaller figure was a human, roughly her size, apparently some kind of warrior. He screamed in anguish as his skull was crushed. She looked at the larger figure and saw a grotesque appearance. The right arm of the creature had three enormous claws, and although most of the creature was covered in a deep blue armor, the arm was not. It wouldn't fit. Its terrible red flesh made Star cringe. It seemed to have mouths in strange places…signified by marks that appeared to be teeth on its shoulder and across its breast. The creature laughed as the man's body went limp. "Another soul to add to my power!" exclaimed the creature as it dropped the man on the ground and began to make a strange motion, as if it were sucking the very air out of the sky. The creature glowed, and the man disappeared.

Then Star saw its left hand and noticed a large sword. It appeared to be made of flesh and had metal edges. The center of the sword contained an eye, suggesting that the sword was alive! Star was unable to determine whether or not this creature was a Heartless, but one thing was certain: it was pure evil. Star backed away. No amount of training could prepare her for a battle with this creature. Not yet, anyway. She needed to get out of that area before the creature noticed her. As Star ran away, she heard more screaming, and the crunching of bone being snapped in half. The creature was taking more victims.

From afar watched a strange, shadowy presence. "Who is this creature that dares to take my name from me? I shall have a word with him, for he is interfering with my plans!"

The presence approached the creature. "You. You need to leave, now. You're interrupting my glorious plan to rule this world with my Heartless!"

The creature, upset at being interrupted, turned and looked upon this presence with orange glowing eyes. He was filled with anger. "Who dares to challenge the great Nightmare!?" demanded the creature.

The presence revealed itself to be a strange looking shadowy man, with a hairstyle that had the appearance of horns. "You fool. I am the true Nightmare. Be gone, imposter!"

The shadowy man waved his hand, trying to use some sort of evil force to push the creature away. The creature shrugged the force away as if it were a gentle summer's breeze. It only got angrier. "Why, you insolent little…I'll burn you alive!"

The creature charged at the shadowy man, who only too late realized his mistake. He caught the creature's strange sword, which then began to glow a strange red color. Soon, the man's hand began to glow red as well, followed by the rest of his body. He was being infected with something…but what? Some sort of evil aura? He shouldn't be affected by an evil aura if he was evil himself…should he?

Suddenly, the aura caused the shadowy man to burst into flame, and he vanished. The evil creature with the grotesque right arm stood in triumph and laughed. "No, you fool. I am the true Nightmare."

The creature looked back over its shoulder and turned around. It smirked evilly. At the bottom of the hill, an entire army of men was charging him. "More pathetic souls have come to feed my hunger…excellent."

Far away, Star was still running as quickly as she could. She wasn't sure if the creature had noticed her, but she wasn't taking any chances. She ran until she came upon a dense forest path, which she decided to take deep into the woods. She'd be sure to be able to hide in there until she figured out what was going on in this world.

As she continued down the dark pathway, she heard a twig snap on the ground. She looked down, about to curse herself for being noisy, when she noticed the path was clear. She hadn't made the noise. But, then…who did? She looked behind her to see if she was being followed, but no one was there. She shrugged, and turned back around. Maybe she was just hearing things. However, as she was turning back around, she found her own face within inches of the face of a young woman about her age with flowing black pigtails and a strange barrette in her hair. "Hi there!"

Star jumped. "DON'T DO THAT!"

The girl laughed. "Who are you?"

"My name is Star. I'm not from around here. And you are?"

The girl smiled. "I don't sense any evil aura in you. My name's Talim. You're not from around here? Have you come from Asia? You don't look like it."

"I'm…from another world."

"Another world? How interesting. Well, it's nice to meet you. So, why does the wind blow you here?"

"I'm on a quest to destroy the Heartless."

"Heartless? Never heard of them."

"Heartless are evil creatures that function on instinct, stealing people's hearts."

"How horrible! But there aren't any heart stealing monsters here. The only monster here is Nightmare, the wielder of Soul Edge, and he steals souls."

Star had a realization. "Nightmare! Does he have a really creepy looking right arm and a sword with an eye on it?"

Talim nodded. "Yup. The wind told me he was in this area. Have you seen him?"

Star looked down at the ground. "Yeah, I saw him. I was gonna try to take him on, but I figured he might be a bit strong for me."

Talim laughed. "And how were you gonna take on Nightmare? You don't even have a weapon."

Star held out her hand and the Keyblade materialized. It was back in its original form, the shape of a skeleton key with a golden hilt. "I have this."

"Ooooh…Looks nice. But I doubt it could take on Soul Edge. Soul Edge is a really powerful evil. It'd take Soul Calibur to actually destroy it. It's the only sword with the right kind of good magic in the world."

"In your world, maybe. But the Keyblade is magic, too. It may be able to help. I may be able to help."

"Don't you have to find those 'Heartless' you were talking about earlier?"

Star smiled. "I always have time to help out people in need."

Talim returned the smile. "Okay, but if we're gonna take on Nightmare, we're gonna need to train!"

"Just show me where to go!" Star said enthusiastically.

Talim was already running down the path. Star followed quickly, laughing.


	21. Chapter 20

"So, what's it like?" Brandon asked. "Being a Nobody, I mean."

"How do you think you'd feel without a heart, Brandon?"

"Well, I think I'd feel awful."

"Wrong."

"Wrong? What do you mean, wrong? How could you not feel awful?"

"It's worse than simply feeling sad, Brandon. When you lose your heart, you aren't able to feel anything. Nothing at all. It's a feeling more hopeless than the deepest despair you've ever felt in your life. It's a horrible hollow feeling that eats away at you until you go mad."

Brandon frowned. "That's terrible. How can you go on like that for so long?"

Xanthas sighed and looked out the window in his room. "It's not easy. Every day you wonder whether it's worth even getting up, knowing that there will be no joy in your life. You can't feel fear, but that's not worth the price of losing all other feeling."

"So…what are you gonna do? How do you know it'll all be okay?"

Xanthas turned to Brandon. "Brandon, look outside. Tell me what you see."

Brandon looked out his window. "I see twinkling stars."

Xanthas almost smiled. "Exactly."

"What?"

"The stars are twinkling, Brandon."

Brandon looked confused. "So?"

"This is SPACE, Brandon. Stars don't twinkle. Twinkling is an illusion of stars caused by atmospheric interference of planets. We're on a ship. There's no atmospheric interference here."

"Wait…if they're not twinkling…"

"Use your head, Brandon."

"If they're not twinkling, that means they're going out?"

"Yes."

"And if the stars are going out…then the worlds…"

Xanthas finished the thought for him. "Are disappearing. One by one."

"I'm sorry if I have to say that doesn't sound like something that would carry much hope."

Xanthas laughed. "Perhaps not for the people living on the worlds. But worlds are more stable than people realize. There are ways of getting a world back. The important thing right now is what this means for me."

"What are you talking about?"

Xanthas gestured toward the window emphatically. "I don't know where my heart is right now, but I'm looking for it. It's a shrinking world, Brandon. The boundaries are getting ever smaller with each world gone. I had a strong heart. That's why I'm a Nobody now. That's why I kept all my memories of my life. My heart will survive. The fewer places I have to look…the easier it will be to find it."

Brandon looked skeptical. "So you're in this for yourself?"

Had he a heart, Xanthas would have been angry at that statement. "Brandon, you know nothing. I do this because I want to be able to love the love of my life again. I want to be able to breathe free air, to feel joy. Do you love someone, Brandon? Enough that you'd give anything, even your life, for them?"

Brandon staggered back. "Well, I…"

"Don't stutter. There's nothing to be gained from hiding your emotions, Brandon. No comfort to be had in forgetting them. In the end, they're one of the things you have in this world that you can't afford to lose. If you have no heart, then you are lost."

"…Yes. There is a woman that I love."

"Good. And I suppose you're looking for her now? She's lost somewhere, waiting for you to find her?"

"….Yes."

"Well, I know where my love is. What I don't know is where the thing I need to feel it is. This isn't just for me, Brandon, it's for her too. So call me what you wish, but NEVER assume I'm selfish."

"But what about all the people on those worlds that are disappearing? What about them?"

"As I said before, Brandon, there are ways of getting worlds back. Once I have my heart, I can help to put the pieces back together."

Suddenly, out of the shadow of the hallway, Fox appeared. "So that's your story, is it, my friend?" He smiled at Xanthas. "How very noble."

"Although I would appreciate the comment if I had a heart, I believe that my life is not your affair."

"For one who cannot feel, you're very bitter, you know that? But no matter. I can see you guys don't mean any harm."

Fox deactivated the rooms' lockdown. "You're free to go however you please."

Brandon stopped. "No, I don't think we'll go yet. You guys said you needed help beating the Heartless, didn't you?"

"No. I said we were fighting them, but we can do that on our own."

Xanthas, inspired by Brandon's sudden outburst, said, "That wasn't an offer. We're going to help, whether you want us to or not."

Fox smiled. "All right, but you'll need ships."


	22. Chapter 21

Xanthas stared in awe at the chrome giant in front of him. Sleekly built, it appeared almost like an arrowhead, with slightly tempered, curved wings that had blasters attached to them. It wasn't as big as a house, but it was definitely bigger than he was. Much bigger. "So," he said, eyes widened, looking up, "we get to fly these things?"

Fox laughed. "Of course. These are the spare Arwings. Of course, they're not as good as mine or Falco's, but they'll do."

Brandon scratched his head. "So how do we get in?"

Fox pressed a button on the panel on the near wall, and ladders erupted from the floor, leading up to the cockpits of the Arwings. The cockpits opened.

"Oh."

Xanthas completely ignored the ladder and jumped right in.

Brandon was surprised at this. "How'd you do that? You just jumped like ten feet in the air!"

Xanthas almost laughed. "Without emotion…much of the energy that was devoted to your heart is divided elsewhere. I think it's fair to say that were I to get back my heart, I would become weak again. However, it's a small price to pay."

Fox laughed. "You two better get going. Falco and I will catch up later, as soon as we get to our ships. Good luck out there."

As Brandon climbed his way into his cockpit, Xanthas paused. Brandon saw the look on his face and showed concern. "Is something wrong?"

"He's found me."

"Who's found you? The leader of Organization XIII?"

"No. The Organization was destroyed many months ago, by a guy named Sora. This guy's bigger than the Organization. MUCH bigger."

"Who is he?"

"Well," Xanthas explained, "Sora thought he'd defeated Xemnas, the Organization's leader, for good. Lots of other people thought so, too. Apparently, though, a part of Xemnas survived. Apparently that single part of Xemnas had enough power to take over a human and transform him into a Nobody again. Without a heart, he was still a Nobody, but he found that absorbing other Nobodies made him stronger. He found scattered small pieces of the Organization's members left behind, and absorbed them, trying to take their powers as well. He had some success, but he couldn't use any of the powers at full power for some reason. For that, he calls himself 'Remnant'. I guess he's saying he's the last remnant of Organization XIII."

Brandon scratched his head. "How do you know all this about him?"

Xanthas shook his head. "He told me so himself. He found me a long time ago, and explained his dilemma. Told me he'd reconsider my offer to join him and that he'd up the ante by giving me control over half the universe or something crazy like that. Obviously, I told him no, that he was nuts if he thought I'd ever join him anyway."

"So what happened next?"

"Well, he got mad, and attacked me. I was able to beat him off with the Nothing Blade, but just barely. I think in a fair fight he'd beat me, to be honest. Now he's trying to absorb powerful Nobodies, and I guess I'm number one on his hit list."

"So, what are you gonna do?"

"Well, there isn't much I can do, except hop a couple more worlds and hope he loses my trail."

"Wait…so I won't see you again?"

"You might. Not sure, really. It's entirely possible, with both of us world-hopping and all. But I don't want this guy to find you. Remnant doesn't mess around. He's here to take over, and anyone who stands in his way either ends up dead…or worse."

"So…you're just gonna leave? Just like that?"

"Don't worry. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon. Just keep fighting for what you believe in. Strong hearts lead people down the right path. If we're to meet again, your heart will guide you to the place. Same as with your friend. If you keep moving along, looking for her, your heart will tell you where to look. Just remember her, and you'll see her soon. Remember me, if you'd like, too. I'll be rooting for the both of you. When I find my heart, I'll do what I can to help you two out."

"Sure thing."

Xanthas laughed. "Sorry to get all sentimental on you."

"It's okay, I'm used to it."

"Well, I'd give you a heartfelt goodbye…But as we both know I don't really have the capacity to do that."

Xanthas chuckled, and a dark shadow erupted from the floor. He jumped down from the Arwing, into the shadow, and disappeared.

"Hm. Weird guy. Well, I guess now I'm stuck alone trying to learn how to fly this thing. Better learn quick."

The hangar door opened as Brandon's cockpit closed above him. He pulled back on the throttle to start the engines, and looked around the console for a 'go' button.

"Hm…this looks about right."

He pressed a large green button, and the Arwing lifted off the ground. It then shot out into space, and Brandon gained full control.

Brandon grabbed hold of the strange joystick control, and jerked it around almost randomly, attempting to get a feel for the handling of the Arwing. "Man, this thing is cool!" he exclaimed as he performed a series of loops and rolls.

Suddenly, two more Arwings flew by him. He heard a voice over his panel's communicator. "Heh. I see he's getting the feel for the Arwing, Fox. You sure this punk's gonna be of any help?"

"Knock it off, Falco. We need all the help we can get."

Brandon rolled his eyes. Obviously there was some sort of command issue between these two.

Fox turned his attention to Brandon as the Arwings flew through space. "Now, Brandon. On the joystick, there are three different buttons. One is for the shield, one is for the lasers, and one is for the bombs. The shield is the center button, the left is lasers, bombs on the right. Be careful, that Arwing only has three bombs in it, and you're not likely to find anymore in space that aren't trying to blow you up. The shield has limited power, but the lasers work just fine. Try 'em out if you want."

Brandon fired a laser blast at a nearby meteoroid, which instantly disintegrated. Brandon laughed slightly evilly. "So, where is this Andross, anyway?"

"He's located in a nearby subsystem. The planet he recently took over was called Venom, but he abandoned his base on the ground for a space station. He won't be easy to get rid of, especially not with his new Heartless friends."

"So, what do we do, then?"

"Simple. We wipe 'em out."

Falco laughed. "Sure, you say it's simple."

Suddenly, they were interrupted by a fleet of ships roughly half the size of their Arwings. They were disk-like, and they bore a strange symbol on their center that resembled a heart with an arrow sticking out of the bottom. Brandon tensed when he saw the symbol. It had already started.

"Get 'em!" yelled a voice over the intercom. It was Slippy, cheering on Fox and Falco.

Brandon looped around a Heartless ship and fired a laser at it, damaging it enough so that it careened out of control and hit another, exploding, but in an instant the explosion vanished, as the oxygen within the ships was used up.

Getting cocky, Brandon did a more complicated loop around the next ship before shooting it. "Just try to keep up."

Falco laughed. "So, it's a game you want? You're outta your league, kid."

He tore through eight ships with the greatest of ease, ramming the last one head-on, without so much as scratching his Arwing. The ship fell back into the fleet and he blew it to pieces.

Fox chuckled. "Well, I guess this won't be a boring battle."

Together, the three made short work of the Heartless fleet. Brandon was growing impatient. "So, why are we just standing around here doing nothing? Why aren't we fighting Andross?"

Fox recoiled in surprise in his ship. "Kid, you only just got here. You can't possibly think you can beat Andross like this."

"Why not?"

"You have no experience piloting an Arwing. It's a miracle you've done as well as you have."

"Heh. I live for miracles. Andross is going down."

Fox laughed. Although he disagreed, he appreciated the confidence.


	23. Chapter 22

As he traveled through the darkness, Xanthas reminisced. There was something strange about his being…something he'd forgotten. He shouldn't be able to remember his human days like this…he shouldn't have these phantom feelings…love…regret…despair. Something happened to him when that creature had taken his heart. Something extraordinary.

---

_Asher was knocked back. Something had hit him, hard. When he opened his eyes, he saw only darkness. He was falling into darkness._

What…what is this place?

_Asher found his mind blanking, his thoughts…his memories…his being slowly fading away._

What's…happening…to me?

_He looked down, and saw his very hand starting to vanish, becoming part of the darkness. _

Is this…the end? I don't understand. I don't even know what hit me…Oh, no. Trista…she's gonna hate me for this…I'll never get to see her again…

_Asher managed to utter a single word, as a tear dropped from his eye. "Trista…"_

_Suddenly, Asher saw a light. He felt a strange warmth that he'd never felt before. His eyes closed as the light surrounded him, and flowed through him._

_When he opened his eyes again, he was on the street in Tempest Town. The creature that had stolen his heart was there._

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­---

Xanthas thought hard. According to everything he'd read, all the research he'd done on the Heartless, he was sure he should have been turned into a Heartless. He was sure he should have lost his heart to the darkness forever. He wasn't sure why he was thinking of all this now, but while he was running from Remnant, he figured he might as well go see someone who might know they answers he sought. And he knew just where to find him. He opened another portal of darkness, and stepped out of it into a world.

He was greeted with a strange look from a blonde man, seemingly in his late thirties or so. "It's very odd that a portal of darkness would open directly in my office. I certainly never expected a Nobody to try to set foot here. Just what are you up to?"

Xanthas stepped closer. "Wise Ansem…I seek knowledge. I need your help."

"And just how may I be of help to one such as yourself? Or perhaps first, I should be informed of whom I am giving advice to, and for what purpose."

"Sir…my name is Xanthas."

"Xanthas…Hm. How quaint. But what is your TRUE name, my friend?"

"My true name…is Asher. I used to live in a place called Tempest Town, but I was attacked…and my heart was taken from me."

"I see. If your heart was taken from you, then you are not truly Asher."

"That's why I came to see you. I know I shouldn't be Asher. I know I should be a Heartless, or if I was Asher, and somehow overcame being a Heartless, I shouldn't be a Nobody. I was wondering if you might be able to help me find out why."

"Interesting. So, you were not turned into a Heartless, but you didn't regain your heart?"

"No, I didn't. I'm stuck like this, unfeeling…"

"Hm. The heart is a strange thing. It cannot be contained by any simple vessel, save a human…and a Keyblade. It seeks a vessel…it won't rest until it finds one. If you did not regain your heart, then it has found a new vessel. But don't fret. I am sure that once you find it, you can get it back without too much difficulty."

"But why am I a Nobody?"

"I assume that you are a Nobody for the simple reason that you are not a Heartless. There are only two types of creature that do not entirely have a heart. There are Nobodies, who don't have a heart at all, and Heartless, who have lost their heart to the darkness. It would appear that your incident pulled out of the darkness that would have otherwise swallowed your heart, but at the moment it was most vulnerable, something took it from you."

"But what would have pulled me from the darkness?" Xanthas asked.

"Only strong emotion and strong connections can break darkness, my friend. Were I to guess, I would say that love would be enough to bring someone back from the darkness."

"Love…"

Ansem smiled. "It was love that sent you on this quest, was it not?"

Xanthas frowned. "Not even love…the memory…"

Ansem chuckled. "Well, that's something that not even I could have foreseen. Someone fueling a journey on a simple memory of an emotion. Your love must be strong for it to have brought you this far. I'm afraid that I have no advice to give you."

"Are you sure you can't help me at all?"

"You seem to have a handle on the situation as it is, my friend. What you lack is confidence. You have confidence that you will find your heart, but you do not have confidence that you will know what to do when you do find it. Be optimistic. I am sure that when you find your heart, what to do next will come naturally to you."

Xanthas began to walk away. "Well, I suppose you did help me…in a way. Thanks for that."

"Leaving so soon?"

"I need to keep moving. I'd rather not draw Remnant here."

"Remnant? Who is Remnant?"

"He's what's left…of Xemnas."

Ansem's eyes widened. "Xemnas? Xeanhort's Nobody…is still alive?!"

"Apparently."

"So…after all that trouble, Sora and Riku didn't finish the job."

"I kinda gotta get going before he finds me…and you. You appear to know him."

"Yes, he was my apprentice, at a time. When he turned into a Heartless to try to take control of Kingdom Hearts, Sora defeated him. However, he returned as a Nobody, still determined to control Kingdom Hearts. I assumed that Sora and his friend Riku defeated Xemnas…But I guess I was wrong."

"I guess so. I guess the guy wouldn't really be happy to see you, either?"

Ansem laughed. "No, I suppose not. He'd probably try to destroy me."

"All the more reason for me to leave now."

"Remember, Xanthas…Have confidence. When you find your heart, you'll know what to do. And don't be afraid. You won't lose your strength. Your strength is inside your heart. With a heart, pure and strong, you cannot lose a battle."

Xanthas smiled, and opened a portal to the darkness. "I'll keep that in mind, Ansem. In the meantime, keep safe. I don't know what Remnant's gonna do when he finds out I'm still running. Probably not half of what he's gonna do once I start fighting back."

Xanthas disappeared.


	24. Chapter 23

Star was panting hard. She dropped to her right knee, using her right arm to support herself so she didn't collapse onto the ground. "Wow, Talim…you really train hard."

Talim laughed. "In a place like this, you need to be trained hard…Soul Edge can't be destroyed if you're weak."

"So…what IS Soul Edge?"

"Soul Edge is an evil sword, often considered to be the ultimate weapon. It changes forms with its users. People have long sought to find Soul Edge, and to take it for themselves. Some seek it for power. Power to control the world…But some even seek Soul Edge because they believe it is a 'sword of salvation'. Those people are sadly mistaken. Soul Edge is pure evil. It drains the willpower and the soul of its wielder, until nothing is left but an empty shell it can control. The last wielder of Soul Edge was the Azure Knight, otherwise known as Nightmare. It's said that the Azure Knight had fought against Soul Edge, and, in the end, shattered it using Soul Calibur…a sword of pure good, to balance Soul Edge's destructive nature. The Azure Knight's real name was Siegfred. But, I'm afraid, he's either gone back to being Nightmare…or I just don't know what's going on. It's a shame."

"Hm. Well, I think I know how to beat him," said Star.

"Oh? And just how do you plan to beat Nightmare?"

"Well, you said that the Azure Knight shattered Soul Edge with that…Soul Calibur sword, right?"

"Yes…"

Star smiled. "Then we should look for Soul Calibur. If we found it, we could probably take out Soul Edge. Although, maybe my Keyblade could help, too."

Talim laughed. "I doubt it. It was barely able to take on my Crescent Blades."

Star looked angry. "Don't underestimate me. The last time someone did that, they lost a Kraken."

Talim laughed harder. "They lost a what?"

Star sighed. "Never mind."

Suddenly, the two stopped moving. They had heard a twig snap. Turning around, Star saw a man in a white cloak holding a large scythe. She couldn't see his face under the hood.

"Do not get involved with that sword if you wish to live. I shall have to kill you if you continue."

"Who are you?" demanded Star, drawing her Keyblade.

"Hmph. Don't make me laugh, little girl."

"LITTLE GIRL?!" Star exclaimed. "Oh, you're gonna get it now!"

Star reached down to her belt and pulled off her three Pokeballs. "Heh. I wasn't gonna use these unless I really needed to…but you'll do for a test subject. Go, Arcanine, Onix, Milotic!"

The trio popped out of their Pokeballs, looking raring for some action.

The man laughed. "Do you really think your little parlor tricks will do anything but amuse me? They're barely doing that."

"Just keep laughing, freak."

Seemingly following an implied order from the tone of her voice, Arcanine appeared to vanish, reappearing directly behind the man, clawing through his cloak with great ease. The man shouted in pain as blood gushed from the wound on his back.

"You'll pay for that."

The man turned quickly and jabbed the hilt end of his scythe into Arcanine's throat, sending it jumping back, yelping in pain. He tried to swing at Arcanine again, but was blocked by Onix's huge, rocky bulk. The man jumped back, threw his scythe into his left hand, and shook his right hand, apparently in an attempt to shake off pain. He didn't even have time to move before Milotic shot an Ice Beam downward, freezing the ground around him, and he slipped and fell. His head made a sickening smack as it hit the ice.

As the ice seemingly evaporated, disappearing, Star walked slowly up to the man and put her Keyblade to his throat.

"Don't threaten me."

Angry, she kicked him in the face, sending him back into the surrounding woods. She heard a strangely triumphant laughter. "The Keyblade…so it's here."

"Who was that guy?" asked Star.

Talim drew her crescent blades. "I don't know. But I think we should follow him."

"All right. You lead."

Talim laughed. "Of course I'll lead. I'm sure you don't know how to track."

Star made a sort of sigh, as if she was implying that she was ignoring Talim's statement.

The two ran out into the woods, disappearing between the trees.

Some time later, the two had caught up to the man. He had just defeated some soldiers that had apparently gotten in his way, and he headed for an old castle. Star thought he heard the man mutter something to the effect of "I never should have brought that thing back. It's time to undo that mistake."

Star and Talim raced toward the castle. Talim spotted a closer entrance. "Here! Let's cut him off!"

At the top of the cathedral, Star and Talim burst through a doorway out to a balcony, where they saw the man with the scythe already in a heated battle with Nightmare.

Star was panting. "I guess," she said, gasping, "I need to work out more."

The sound of running water was heard, flowing from a fountain above the doorway into a surrounding pool. The balcony was apparently just a platform in the middle of a huge above-ground pool…a REALLY above-ground pool. The tranquility of the place was broken by the sound of clashing metal. Sparks flew through the air as the scythe and sword struck each other with deadly force. After a few hits, the scythe was thrown from the hands of the cloaked man and landed on the ground a few feet away. As Nightmare raised Soul Edge to kill the man, a strange sound was heard. The sword was stopped in mid-swing. When the man looked up, he saw Arcanine, its jaws clasped on Nightmare's sword hand.

Nightmare was not pleased. "Away, creature! You'll be given your death soon enough!"

Arcanine growled, and pushed backward toward Nightmare, throwing him off balance. Star saw her opportunity. She threw the Keyblade. It whizzed through the air, and struck Nightmare directly in the back. Running toward Nightmare, she brought out her other two Pokeballs and released Milotic and Onix. Arcanine released Nightmare's sword hand, and Nightmare was attempting to recover from the wound on his back. He was tougher than he looked, and there wasn't much damage done by the Keyblade, but it was enough to distract him. As Star neared Nightmare, she screamed, "MILOTIC! NOW!"

She jumped on Nightmare's back and grasped the Keyblade tightly. Ripping the blade from Nightmare's back, she managed to flip out of the way just in time as Milotic shot an Ice Beam directly at him. Nightmare was frozen in solid ice. Before Nightmare could break free or thaw, Onix brought its tail down onto his body as hard as it could. Nightmare was shattered into pieces, and Soul Edge fell to the ground.

Talim stood, watching the whole thing, flabbergasted. "She really is a hero…"

The cloaked man stood up. He pulled back his hood to reveal a black complexion and a golden eye. He smiled. "So, you are strong. Good. I have a favor to ask you."

Star scowled. "Oh yeah? And what's that? Not that I didn't just save your sorry hide."

The man laughed. "I want you to kill me."

"Huh?"

"Perhaps I should tell you my story. I won't bother you with all of the details, but I'll give you the gist of it. My name is Zasalamel. Long ago, I was a member of an ancient tribe that protected Soul Calibur, the Spirit Sword that could destroy Soul Edge. However, I committed a crime and was exiled. I found a way to become immortal through eternal rebirth—reincarnation, if you will. However, when you become reincarnated, you experience death countless times…and there's never any closure. It's like if you were watching a play, and suddenly, right before the end, another play started. You never got to see what happened at the end of the first one. Imagine, an eternity of reincarnation. There is no death. You just fall asleep, and wake up someone else. You can imagine that I got tired of a life like that."

"So why don't you just let yourself die?"

"Because it's not that simple. Powerful magic made me immortal…it would take magic just as powerful to return me to mortality. My original plan was to revive Nightmare. With Nightmare revived, Soul Edge would begin seeking souls again, and Soul Calibur would reveal itself. With the sword of evil and the Spirit Sword together, I could create the kind of magic that could break my chain of reincarnations, and grant my wish."

"But…"

"But I never found Soul Calibur. When I realized my mistake, I moved to destroy Nightmare. In my many reincarnations, I have seen war…death…desolation. I didn't want to bring Nightmare back to a world that couldn't handle him if it wouldn't help me get what I wanted. There was only one more hope for me. That sword in your hand, right there."

Star held out the Keyblade.

"Yeah, that's it. The Keyblade. It contains the sort of magic I'm looking for. I want you to strike me with the Keyblade, right here, in my heart. The magic of the Keyblade will return me to mortality. Then, I can be at peace."

Star hesitated. She'd vanquished a few Heartless, but she wasn't sure she could kill a man. "What makes you think this would work?" she asked.

The man laughed. "Trust me."

"I…don't think…"

The man's face began to look pleading. "Please, do this for me. It's all I ask. I just…want…to die."

Closing her eyes tightly, Star thrust the Keyblade into the man's chest. The man made a strange choking sound, and a small amount of blood escaped. However, the wound suddenly closed around the Keyblade.

"The magic…it's working!"

Star looked concerned, almost sad. "Zasalamel…"

The man laughed, his entire being beginning to fade. "Thank you, Keyblade Master. You've granted me the only thing I could ever want. Finally, it's over."

The man evaporated into the air. Tiny little fireflies, created by the evaporation, floated into the sky. "Eternal…rest."


	25. Chapter 24

Brandon, Fox, and Falco zoomed through the streets of Corneria in their Arwings. The once bustling, technologically advanced city nearly lay in ruins from the invasion. Parts of buildings were blown off, billboards littered the streets, and sidewalk lamps were short-circuiting left and right. The sky glowed a red-orange color, mixed in with the usual blue. The pollution from the destruction was obviously the culprit. The whole scene appeared as though someone had spilled blood into a pool of beautiful crystal water.

"Jeez," scowled Falco, "don't these things spare ANYTHING?"

Brandon shook his head. "I guess this is why they're called Heartless."

Fox pulled up, and the others followed. As they shot into the air, Fox made an observation. "All the Heartless seem to have backed off. That can only mean one thing."

Falco nodded. "Yep. They're sending the fleet's commander in to finish the job. We can only guess who he is."

Suddenly, a shockwave was sent through the air, nearly blasting the three right out of the sky. "What the…" Brandon looked around, trying to figure out what had happened.

Fox's eyes grew wide. "This can't be…"

The three returned to their formation, and flew forward, to see a giant head and two huge hands floating over the sea right outside the city.

Falco was amazed. "No way! The freak came here himself!"

Veering to avoid a building near the coast, Brandon jerked his controls. "Wait…that's Andross?"

The head laughed. Apparently created from pure computer data, the head was a bright blue, with slightly orange outlining. It had red eyes, and a horrible smile.

Fox cringed. "Ugh. That's him, alright."

Falco sped up. "Well, let's get him! It's now or never!"

Brandon followed suit. "I was thinking the same thing."

Fox shook his head, and followed the two of them. For a minute, the three swarmed the head, firing shots at what seemed to be weak points. After a little while, Falco cursed. "We aren't doing any damage! There's gotta be a better way to hurt him…before we get his attention."

Brandon saw the head turn slightly, and the pupil of a red eye focus on them. "Too late."

A hand swatted at Fox, who barely managed to move out of the way. "I guess we made him mad."

"Just keep shooting! We'll get him!"

Brandon rolled his eyes.

"Falco," Fox said, "we both know that's not gonna work. We need to find out his weakness."

Brandon flew in front of Andross. "I might know one," he said, as he fired directly at Andross' eyes. It didn't phase him one bit. A huge hand swept past Brandon, causing his Arwing to fall a few hundred feet before restabilizing. "All right," Brandon said with a sort of false confidence, "I guess I'll have to try something else."

Fox flew up to try his own shot at Andross. As his laser blasts once again didn't affect the head, he pulled away, trying to let Falco get a shot. Suddenly, his Arwing felt a slight tug in the reverse direction. Fox looked back to see Andross' mouth wide open, air rushing in. _He was trying to suck in the Arwing._ Fox desperately tugged on his controls, trying to break free, but it was no use. However, just as he was about to be sucked in, his hand slipped, and hit the button to release a bomb from the cargo hold. Andross' mouth closed on the bomb, and Fox was able to escape. Looking back, he saw a distressed look on Andross' face as the bomb exploded.

Brandon saw it too, and smirked. "Guys," he said over the com, "I've got an idea."

After receiving a short explanation, Fox gave Brandon his two cents. "That's crazy! It'll never work! You'll get yourself killed!"

Brandon scoffed. "Nah, it'll work. Trust me."

"Well, Fox, if the kid's in such a hurry to die, I'd say let him. Maybe he's right. Maybe it'll work."

"All right, but this is gonna take split-second timing."

Brandon flew into position. Fox and Falco followed suit. "All right. I'm ready."

Brandon pulled up on the throttle, and the Arwing picked up speed. It flew faster, faster, faster…until it was going so fast that it was just a blur in the sky! "FALCO! NOW!"

Falco fired a shot in Brandon's path, and it hit Brandon's cargo bay directly. Brandon's panel blinked red, and warning sirens were going off. A light on the panel read "Cargo Bay Jam! Emergency! Do Not Release Bomb!"

Brandon pushed the button to open the cockpit of the Arwing. He laughed as Andross opened his mouth to try to suck up his Arwing. "That's right, sucker. Take the bait."

He smashed a button on his control panel, and more warning lights flashed. "BOMBS DEPLOYED INCORRECTLY! CARGO BAY NOT OPEN! EXPLOSION IMMINENT!"

Brandon smirked. "Say 'goodbye', freak."

He climbed up onto his seat, releasing himself from his straps, and jumped out of his Arwing, plummeting to the ground below. As he descended, Fox's Arwing dove after him, and he managed to grab onto the right wing. As he turned his head to see Andross, he noticed his Arwing surging with visible electric current. The warning sirens could be heard even from the wing of Fox's ship. Andross swallowed the ship, and Brandon smirked.

Andross realized his mistake only too late. Suddenly, the Arwing exploded in his mouth, blowing his head completely to pieces. The shockwave from the explosion was so intense that because of friction in the air, there was a visible circle resonating from the explosion's center. The windows of all the buildings on shore instantly shattered, and Brandon, Fox, and Falco watched as the remains of Andross fell violently to the sea. As Fox and Falco landed, Brandon let himself down from the wing of the Arwing. Fox jumped down, and looked at Brandon, amazed. "How'd you come up with a crazy plan like that?"

Brandon shrugged. "I don't know. You gotta think on your feet, I guess."

Falco laughed. "If I tried suicide missions every day, I think I'd quickly look for a new job."

Brandon pulled out the device he'd been given. "Well, it's been fun and all, but I think you two can handle things from here. I gotta get back to looking for Star."

Fox nodded. "All right. Think you'll ever find that Xanthas character?"

"Don't know."

"Well," Falco said, "if you ever DO find him, let him know we're fairly ticked off that he didn't stay to help."

Brandon laughed. "Can do."

He punched in some random numbers into the device, and vanished.


	26. Chapter 25

Xanthas looked around. Everything looked so serene…green grass, big trees, and flower petals, dancing in the wind, floating aimlessly by. "What is this place? It's so beautiful."

A man with white hair walked up behind him. "Heh. You have to ask where you are? But I'd guess, considering your ugly clothes, you're not from around here."

Xanthas' pupils moved to the corners of his eyes, but he didn't yet turn around. "Who are you to judge what I'm wearing?" he asked, perturbed that anyone would mock his laid-back jeans-and-a-plain-t-shirt style.

"You weren't seriously considering walking around Feudal Japan looking like THAT, were you?" asked a girl's voice.

That turned Xanthas' head. "Feudal Japan?"

He saw a smiling, wide-eyed junior high-aged girl with long, flowing black hair. "Uh-huh. I don't know where you came from, but if you wanna blend into Feudal Japan, you're gonna need some robes instead of those street clothes."

The white-haired man scoffed. "And maybe a scarf to cover up that face. Looks like it'd scare the hair off a full-demon," he said, an ear twitching. His ears were strange, though. They weren't human ears…they were almost like wolf ears. His teeth looked unusually pointy as well, but Xanthas decided not to say anything about it until he knew whether these people were friends or foes.

"Inuyasha, that's not very nice!" frowned the girl. "I'm sorry about him. He's not too good with meeting new people."

"Well, you wouldn't be, either, if new people kept trying to kill YOU."

Xanthas sighed. "Been there, man."

"Hmph. I doubt that. I doubt you've spent the last few months questing to find something precious to you, to try to get what you really want out of life. To try to make yourself whole."

Xanthas turned away. "Yeah. Of course I haven't," he said, eyes migrating toward the ground.

The girl walked up to Xanthas and put her hand on his shoulder. "You've had it rough, too, huh?"

Inuyasha scowled.

The girl looked back at him. "Oh, c'mon, Inuyasha. He's obviously had it pretty bad too."

"I don't trust him, Kagome."

"We don't even know his story!"

"Exactly. We don't know who this guy is, or where he came from. Far as I'm concerned, that makes him a potential enemy. Not that he'd be a threat."

"You know, I really don't appreciate the comments."

"You know, I really don't care. I don't know who you are, but I think you should shut up and move along. Last thing we need is another stupid, weak little freak trying to steal our jewel shards."

Xanthas sighed. "Would it make you feel better if I told you who I am?"

Kagome smiled. "Sure. But first, I'm Kagome, and this is Inuyasha."

"Pleasure. My name is Xanthas…well…that's not really my name, though. It's kinda complicated. My original name was Asher. That was before…before I was turned into a Nobody, thanks to the Heartless."

Inuyasha spat. "Heartless. Scrawny little weaklings couldn't fight their way through a puddle."

"A Heartless took my heart. I was going to turn into a Heartless myself…but for some reason, I was pulled out of the darkness, and emerged as a Nobody. In frustration, I killed the Heartless, but my heart was gone. Now I'm looking for it."

"Say, Inuyasha…do you think maybe we might be able to help him?"

"Kagome, we're not gonna let him use the jewel to wish for his heart back. We don't even have all the shards anyway."

Xanthas shook his head. "I have no need for gems. I only want my heart."

"Well, you won't find it with us. So get outta here before you really tick me off."

"Fine. Take care, Kagome, Inuyasha."

Kagome smiled. "Uh-huh! You, too!"

Inuyasha looked to the side in discontent. "Hmph."

Walking away, when he was out of earshot, Xanthas rolled his eyes. "That guy's got a serious complex."

"HEY! I HEARD THAT!"

Xanthas turned around to see Inuyasha shaking his fist at him. His eyes grew wide. Apparently those wolf ears weren't just for show. Something was seriously strange about this world. He turned back, and continued into the forest.

"Hm. If you ask me, HE's the one with the complex," pouted Inuyasha.

"Oh, Inuyasha, don't be so hard on him. He lost his heart."

"Why shouldn't I be hard on him? If he lost his heart, he can't feel anything anyway. He can't get upset because of what I say. I shouldn't even CARE what I say to him."

Kagome put her nose up in the air and turned her back to Inuyasha. "Hmph."

"Oh, c'mon, Kagome, you know I'm right."

Kagome took a few steps, then uttered the words "Sit, boy."

A helpless look flushed across Inuyasha's face as his body did a pile driver into the ground.

---

Deep within the forest, Xanthas was beginning to regret his choice of path. He jumped back just as his assailant's dagger pierced the air where he'd been standing. He couldn't see the man…he was covered by a baboon skin. An albino baboon skin. Did they have baboons in Feudal Japan? He shook his head. It didn't really matter. He knew he needed to get away from this guy, whoever he was.

"You can't win, boy. Give up, and I'll make your death quick and painless."

"You know, you're really getting on my nerves. Maybe it's time I showed you my Diamond Wind Slash!" Xanthas yelled as he drew the Nothing Blade, and created a whirlwind to blow his assailant away.

The man in the baboon skin simply waved his hand and the whirlwind evaporated. "Fool. You do not know power."

Suddenly, a whoosh was heard, and the baboon-skin cloaked man turned his head to see Xanthas a few feet behind him. "Come over here and say that," he said. He lifted his sword. "Or maybe…You wanna try my Earthquake Fissure!" He positioned his hands as though he was about to stab himself in the stomach, and stabbed the Nothing Blade into the ground.

The cloaked man sensed a disturbance in the ground. He grunted, and jumped into the air. As soon as his feet were off the ground, the ground itself crumbled underneath him, revealing a chasm that went far deeper than visible. Surprised, the man pushed himself off trees, attempting to find a safe place to land. At that moment, Xanthas ripped his blade from the ground. "You're in the air. Sucker."

The Nothing Blade began to blow a bright blue. "LIGHTNING ELEMENT!"

A bolt of unimaginable energy shot from the blade, and hit the man in the baboon skin directly in the chest. Charred and shaking violently, the man fell to the ground, and down into the fissure opened up by the blade. When the man was out of sight, Xanthas saw a light and heard a POOF!

"Hm. That's never done that to anyone before."

Xanthas heard a female voice behind him. "That wasn't anyone, that's why. You just beat a puppet."


	27. Chapter 26

Xanthas sat with the girl, talking and drinking sake. "So, what you're saying is, that's the guy that's giving Inuyasha and Kagome so much trouble?"

"Not exactly."

"Right. He makes puppets of himself out of little dolls?"

"Yeah. Don't know why he attacked you, though."

"Odd character. I wouldn't put it past an evil guy to attack the first new person he sees, though. I have an unfortunate bad luck streak when it comes to meeting a lot of new people. There's always at least one that's out to get me."

"That's terrible. I hope you've at least found some friends during your journey. By the way…I never introduced myself. The name's Sango. I'm a Demon Huntress. I've been tracking down Naraku with Kagome and Inuyasha for a long time now. Kagome senses Jewel Shards, and we have a monk with us that handles things to deal with magic," She flinched as she said the word 'monk'.

"Pleasure's all mine. I'm Xanthas. I'm trying to….well, it's kinda a long story. I'll tell you about it later. But don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you. It's not that I don't interfere sometimes…it's just that you seem like a nice person."

Sango's eyes widened.

"Sango? What's…" Xanthas looked behind her, and saw a figure in a purple robe, with his hand in a peculiar place.

He was about to say something to the person in the robe when Sango turned around. "YOU PERVERT! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THAT!"

She began to slap the man continuously in the face, until she backed him up to a tree. Xanthas could only sit wondering what in the world was going on. After a time of watching Sango attack the man, he finally said something. "Um…somebody wanna clue me in here?"

After a final, satisfying punch, Sango turned her back to the man and walked back toward Xanthas. "That," she said, pointing back at the man, who was holding his face and frowning, "is the monk. His name is Miroku, and he's a pervert. Always…well, you saw."

"I did. Hmph. Guy needs to get himself a girlfriend instead of pulling crap like that."

Miroku smirked. "Perhaps I should."

"That is, unless you can't GET a girlfriend because of what you do."

"You should watch what you say, kid. I've got some powerful magic."

Miroku held out a small piece of paper with some strange writing on it.

Xanthas drew his sword, and sliced the paper in half in Miroku's hand. Resheathing the blade, he simply said, "Don't call me kid."

A bead of sweat trickled down Miroku's face. This guy was fast. Real fast. He pulled out his staff, and was about to strike, when Sango jumped in front of him. "Miroku, STOP!"

"Why should I stop? He was going to kill me!"

Xanthas scoffed. "Hardly. I just didn't feel like getting a nasty papercut."

Miroku growled.

"Miroku, you need to think twice before you attack someone. This guy just took down that Naraku puppet we'd been chasing by himself. He's strong, but I don't think he's evil."

"Why should I? I bet if Inuyasha found this kid, he'd sooner slice off his head than look at him."

"Inuyasha? Met him a little while ago, before I went into this forest. I didn't exactly get a warm welcome from him, but we didn't fight. That Kagome sure was nice, though. I think she wanted to help me. So, I take it you guys are helping them? Why'd you split up?"

"Well, we went off to find the puppet. But we knew that it'd end up being a dead end, so Inuyasha and Kagome went off to see if they couldn't find another Jewel Shard. The Shikkon Jewel has the power to grant the wish of anyone that holds it. We're trying to complete the Jewel. Inuyasha wants it to turn into a full demon…or so he says. See, he's a half-demon right now. That means he has both demon and human blood in him. His father was a demon, and his mother was human. He's always felt weaker than other demons, because of his half blood. He's got this sword..."

"Sango, we don't need to bore him with all the details."

"Right. Well, anyway, Naraku is the evil demon who originally tried to get the Jewel, but it was shattered, and its pieces were scattered across the continent. Right now, he's trying to get shards too. He's got quite a few, but so do we. Naraku is personally responsible for the murder of pretty much everyone in my village. You could say I have something of a grudge. Miroku over here…he's cursed. Those beads, holding that piece of cloth over his hand…they're not just for show."

Miroku held out his hand.

"They hide his curse…the Wind Tunnel. It's terrible. It consumes everything…soon, it will consume Miroku as well. The only way to break the curse is for him to kill Naraku."

"Hm. So, that's why you're with Inuyasha and Kagome? You're following them around and helping them out because you know one day you guys are gonna fight Naraku?"

"Basically."

"Wouldn't it just be easier to find Naraku and take him down then and there?"

Sango laughed. "You'd think that, but it's not easy to find Naraku. He's good at hiding."

"Hmph. He's supposed to be that powerful, and he hides, and uses puppets to do his bidding? Sounds like a coward to me. A pathetic coward."

Miroku smirked. "You know, I'm beginning to like you."

Sango smiled. "So, you feel like helping us? I mean, you took out that puppet without even trying. We could use someone like you."

"I don't know…I really should get back to trying to find my…"

Just then, a shadow appeared. Xanthas couldn't see what the shadow was of, but it gave him the chills just looking at it. "Your heart? Is that what you're looking for?"

Xanthas put his hand on the Nothing Blade, ready to draw again.

"Oh, don't be foolish. I don't have your heart. I'm just a messenger."

Sango butted in. "Your…heart? What's going on?"

Xanthas sighed. "My heart…was taken from me. I don't really have emotions right now…even though it may seem like I do. It's just an illusion. I'm remembering emotions that I used to have before it happened."

"It would have to be something powerful, to take your heart. How was it taken?" asked Miroku.

"The Heartless. They take people's hearts, and the people then turn into Heartless themselves. Their bodies and minds are left behind, as what are called Nobodies. Somehow, my conscious self reawakened in my Nobody. Now, I'm looking to find my heart, so I can be whole again."

The shadow laughed. "Yes…about your heart. I know where it is."

"Where is my heart? TELL ME!" Xanthas gripped his blade hilt more firmly.

"I thought it would be obvious. Your heart is in the hands of Naraku."

"It's…here?!"

"Yes, that's what I said, foolish boy. Naraku has your heart."

"Hold it…who are you? Why are you helping me? Or are you just helping him by getting me close to him?"

The shadowy creature chuckled. "I don't really see any reason to answer any of those questions. I've done what I have to do. Now I'm leaving."

He turned his back and was about to walk away, when a voice was heard. It was Inuyasha's. "Sesshomaru, I've got a bone to pick with you!"

Sango and Miroku readied their weapons. If this shadow really was Sesshomaru, Inuyasha might need some help.

"Don't waste your energy, brother. I'm not here to fight you. I'm not here to fight anyone. I was only here to relay some information to Xanthas."

"Xanthas? That guy from earlier? So, he's working with you, is he?!"

"Of course not, fool. I don't 'work' with anyone. I do as I please. Now, I'm leaving. One day, I will kill you. But it won't be today. I have other matters to attend to."

Sesshomaru was walking away when he suddenly saw Xanthas in front of him. He was startled. The kid was fast.

"You're not going anywhere until I get some answers. Why'd you tell me about my heart? How do you know so much about me?"

"If you must know, Naraku knows a little more about what's going on in other worlds than you might think."

"So you got that information from Naraku? Why? What's in it for you?"

Sesshomaru laughed, and pulled back his sleeve discreetly, so that only Xanthas could see. Xanthas saw some stitches. Strangely, he could see that the arm color was slightly different than Sesshomaru's body color.

"This isn't my arm. It's a human arm. Don't ask why I need it. I don't need it yet, but I will. Now, let me be. "I've done what I needed to do."

Xanthas stepped aside, and Sesshomaru began to walk away.

Inuyasha spat. "He's working with Naraku! I knew it! The bastard!"

He began to charge at Sesshomaru, but Kagome grabbed his shoulder. "Not now, Inuyasha. We need to find Naraku. All the Jewel Shards have been collected."

Inuyasha clenched his fist. "So it's time, then?"

"Yeah. C'mon, Sango, Miroku. We gotta go find Naraku. He's the only other one with Jewel Shards."

Sango looked back at Xanthas. "You coming?"

"Oh, I'm coming. If Naraku's got my heart, I'll take him down to get it."

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. He didn't like some new guy helping all of a sudden, but he seemed to have some sort of grudge against Naraku too now. He shook it off. He knew he couldn't hold back a grudge. The same thing happened with Miroku once. He just told himself he'd watch this guy carefully, to make sure nothing bad happened.

"How are we going to track Naraku?" asked Xanthas.

"There's been news of a demon attack on a nearby town. We'll start there. Maybe someone knows something."

"All right, then, let's go."

Xanthas, Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha, and Kagome all walked out of the forest, down a path through the hills. They could see a puff of smoke in the distance. Something about it told them that was where they needed to look.


	28. Chapter 27

As they approached the broken little town, with fires blazing on every roof, pieces of shattered pottery scattered across the ground, men's bodies everywhere, some still with a deathgrip on their long, elegant swords, and women and children lying dead in the streets, Xanthas looked away for a minute. This wasn't something he was used to. He'd heard stories of wars…but this was awful. Whoever…or whatever did this showed no mercy at all. If anything, they seemed to get an almost sadistic pleasure out of mangling the dead bodies, as if whatever force drove them was beyond his comprehension.

"Whoever did this…they're not human," said Xanthas, shaking his head.

Sango nodded.

Miroku tightened one hand into a fist. "No, he wasn't. This is definitely Naraku's work. As much destruction as possible…no survivors."

"Naraku makes me sick," blurted Inuyasha. "He didn't even spare the kids…not one. He's a demon, all right. A demon bastard that deserves to die."

Xanthas took a step forward. "Let's keep moving. I don't think he's still here."

Quickly, he looked around, and drew his sword. He got it out of its sheath just in time to block some strange looking purple fluid from striking him in the face. As it hit the ground, the fluid dissolved much of the blood-stained grass before settling.

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. "Miasma. He's here."

Inuyasha drew his own sword, which somehow expanded as it worked its way out of its sheath. "TETSUSAIGA!"

Miroku spun his staff around, to show that he was ready to fight, too. "Where are you, Naraku? Show yourself!"

A sinister laugh was heard. "Foolish monk. Stupid half-demon. You're not my targets here. But…I'll gladly kill you to get you out of my way!"

Suddenly a strange TWACK was heard, and Miroku fell to the ground. Sango examined him, and found him to be unconscious. "Somebody hit him in the head with something…I don't know how they got past us! Whoever it was was too fast for me to see!"

Xanthas growled. "It's not a who…it's a what. It's a Heartless."

"A Heartless?"

"Yes. Those without hearts. They seek the hearts of the living…strong and weak alike, they aren't picky. They take all the hearts they can. They're mindless, despicable creatures. Miroku's lucky. He surprised the creature. His heart wasn't as easy for it to take."

Xanthas heard a noise. "Heh. Apparently it thinks it can take ME on. Too bad. It's the last thing it'll ever do."

Xanthas swung his sword backwards and held it there for a moment, as it caused the Heartless to run directly into it. The Heartless went limp over the sword. Xanthas used the sword to toss the Heartless over to Sango.

"There's you assailant."

With a twisted, mangled face, it didn't look like any Heartless Xanthas had ever seen.

Sango shouted in surprise. "This isn't a Heartless…it's a DEMON!"

The creature evaporated in a puff of smoke. The sinister voice spoke again. "You mean, it WAS a demon. The perfect marriage of evil. Demon Heartless. A novel concept, don't you think? Even the name is something to strike fear into the hearts of men…before I snatch them away. Or maybe…Heartless Demon is more fitting?"

As another strange noise was made, Xanthas displayed his second trophy before it was destroyed as well. "Maybe. But I prefer 'Dead' myself."

Naraku laughed again, and showed himself, walking up the path. "How clever. But I have something to wipe the smirk off your face."

Naraku reached into his cloak, his black hair flowing in the sour wind, his red eyes glowing evilly. He pulled out something delicately, and displayed it with an evil smile. A small, pink, glowing object. Xanthas froze.

"My…heart?"

Naraku laughed. "That's right, kid. Your heart. I have your heart. And it's right here, in my measly little hand. I'm sure someone as powerful as you could just simply walk over here and take it…don't you think?"

"I'm not here for games, Naraku! Hand it over, NOW!" Xanthas looked almost angry.

Inuyasha smiled. "I don't care about some heart…I'm gonna kill you, Naraku!" He charged.

Naraku frowned in annoyance. "This is not your battle, fool."

He swatted Inuyasha away, and shot spikes from his hands, pinning him to a wall.

Inuyasha dropped his sword, and spat. "Damn you!"

Kagome attempted to fire an arrow at Naraku, but some strange vines erupted from the ground and restrained both Kagome and Sango, and one wrapped around the neck of the still-unconscious Miroku.

"There. That will prevent any unwanted distractions. Now, you say you want your heart back. Well? Come get it back."

Xanthas readied his sword. "There'll be no need to take it by force once I toss aside your dismembered body, Naraku. I'm stronger than you think I am."

"Oh? And why would you need to kill me to get it back, hm? You're certainly fast enough that you could simply take it from me yourself and then kill me."

An uneasy look flowed across Xanthas' face for a second.

"What's that? Oh, you'd rather kill me first anyway? And why might that be? The pleasure? Oh, but you can't feel pleasure…then what would it be?"

"Shut up, Naraku!"

Naraku smiled. "What is it? What is it that makes you uneasy? What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid of anything. I'm more powerful than you can imagine!"

"Then show me."

Xanthas charged at Naraku, swung his blade, and removed Naraku's right arm without so much as blinking. Naraku simply laughed as his arm instantly grew back. His new hand grew terrible claws, which he then used to rend part of Xanthas' shoulder. Luckily for Xanthas, it wasn't his sword arm.

Xanthas took several swings at Naraku, removing different random extremities until eventually he needed a breather. As he panted, Naraku laughed more.

"Fool. I'm not going to let you kill me. You'll have to take your heart by force eventually…or you could just simply die trying to do it the way you are now. Either way suits me just fine."

"I will kill you. That much I know for sure," said Xanthas as he jumped into the air and cut Naraku down the middle.

As Naraku's two halves were falling to the ground, small veinlike things protruded from the wound and weaved together, forming a little bridge that promptly pulled his two halves back into a whole body again. He was apparently VERY skilled in the art of regeneration.

Naraku chuckled. "I see you're going to be persistant. Very well. I suppose I should fight back, but I do grow bored. I think I'll just simply give you your heart back and be done with it."

Xanthas' eyes widened. He tried to speak, but couldn't say anything.

Naraku grasped the heart, and it seemed to vanish into pink dust, but then Xanthas glowed for a second. "There you are. Good as new. Aren't you happy now?"

Xanthas tried to swing the Nothing Blade…only to find that it had vanished. He panicked. He was no longer Xanthas…he was Asher.

Naraku had a sarcastic look of surprise on his face. "Oh, dear! It would appear that sword can only be wielded by a Nobody!"

He stepped toward Asher and prepared his clawlike fingernails. "How unfortunate for you."


	29. Chapter 28

Asher took a step back. He wasn't prepared for this. His air of confidence seemed to leave him. He could feel his emotions now…but it was too soon. He'd lost the power to use the Nothing Blade. Now, he was weaponless and defenseless. He was afraid.

"Come, now. There's no need to leave now. We were just starting to have fun!" Naraku swiped at Asher, who just barely managed to jump back away from Naraku's extended claws.

What was he going to do? Anyone who might be able to help him was pinned down, and his weapon was gone. Was this it? Was this the end? Did he come this far, only to get his heart back and die in the process? He tried to take a step back, and realized he was in pain. He fell to one knee, and grasped his shoulder. He'd almost forgotten Naraku hit him. He didn't think about it as Xanthas…he didn't need to. He would have healed faster as a Nobody…he wouldn't feel it like this…but he was overwhelmed. He didn't even have the strength to dodge Naraku's next attack.

Naraku laughed. He began to glow strangely. "I'm afraid…that this is the end for you."

He pulled out something that looked like a sword, and a blast of energy shot out from it toward Asher. Asher closed his eyes. He waited for the impact.

As Asher braced himself, he felt a gust of wind, and a small amount of heat…and then he felt normal. As if nothing had happened. He opened his eyes and looked forward. He saw a figure standing in front of him, holding back the blast as it curved around them in a dome, until finally it dissipated. He smiled, and almost laughed. "It's about time you showed up, Brandon."

However, as the dust cleared, he saw that it wasn't Brandon standing in front of him. It was a girl, someone he hadn't seen before. Who…

"Something tells me," the girl said, "that this guy isn't the bad guy here."

Asher smiled when he saw the Keyblade in her hand. This must be the girl Brandon was talking about. "No, I'm not. Thank you. If you wanna know who the bad guy is, it's the ugly one."

Naraku had a look of distaste on his face. "Who are you? Why do you interfere? This is not your battle."

"It's my battle whenever there are Heartless involved, freak. That's why I got this Keyblade. I learned that real quick."

"But apparently the concept of proper grammar still eludes you."

Star scoffed. "I didn't come here for a lecture. I came here to kill whatever was bringing the Heartless into this world. Guess who it is?"

Asher frowned. "Be careful! He can regenerate!"

Star smiled. "We'll see about that."

She took a swing with the Keyblade, and removed Naraku's right arm. After a moment of concentrating, Naraku developed a look of pure terror. The arm wasn't growing back. He took a step back to rethink his strategy.

"Oh, no you don't."

Star jumped forward and cut Naraku straight down his body. The two pieces of his body fell to the ground and vanished into puffs of smoke, just like the Heartless. The Keyblade disappeared from her hand, and she turned back to Asher. She grabbed his hand and pulled him up.

"Thank you very much. I owe you my life."

Star smiled. "No problem at all. Don't worry about it. My name's Star. What's yours?"

"My name is Xa…" he paused. That wasn't his name anymore, was it? "…Asher. My name is Asher."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Asher."

"Star…you wouldn't happen to be the girl Brandon is looking for, would you?"

"You know Brandon?!" Star grabbed him by the shoulders.

"We met, a while ago. He seemed like a real nice guy," Asher said, flinching in pain.

Star saw that he was hurt. "Oh, I'm sorry. Here, let me get that for you."

She wrapped a few bandages around his shoulder. "So, what were you doing here, Asher? You don't look anything like those guys," she said as she pointed to Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, and Miroku.

"It's a long story. I might tell you about it later. But I'd like to go home, now. I got what I came here for. There's nothing I can do for anyone now, really."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I guess I'll tell you the gist of what happened. I lost my heart, and became a Nobody. Losing my heart allowed me to put more strength into my body, but now that I've gotten it back, and become whole again…I'm not that strong anymore."

Star laughed. "That's ridiculous! You got a part of yourself back! If anything, you should be STRONGER than you were when your heart was gone."

Kagome spoke up. "She's right. You were only thinking about power. Real strength comes from courage. It comes from your heart."

"A whole hell of a lot of good courage does me when I can't fight."

"Who says you can't fight?" asked Inuyasha. "If you think you can't fight, then you quit too easily. You can't go around your whole damn life giving up just because things seem hard. Sometimes you have to fight. Even if you think you can't."

He picked up a sword from the ground, still in its sheath, and threw it to Asher. When Asher caught it, he hesitated. "Thanks…but what do I do with this?"

Inuyasha looked puzzled. "What do you think you do with it? It's a sword, you idiot! You kill things with it! Damn, you're thick."

Asher looked annoyed. "I meant, does it have any special powers?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "How should I know? I'd say 'ask that guy'," he said, pointing at a corpse, "but if you did, he probably wouldn't say much. Dead people tend not to be very talkative."

Miroku stood up, now fully conscious, and brushed some dirt off from his robe. "It's not the weapon. It's not about how fast your weapon is, or how deadly. It's about how you use it. It's about the strength of your heart and of your mind, not just the strength of your arms. The weakest man in the world could kill someone with a mere dagger if he got close enough and hit him in the right spot."

Asher nodded. "All right, if you say so. Star…would you mind bringing me along with you? I kind of don't have anywhere else to go."

Star smiled, and brought out her ship. Motioning toward it, she said, "Sure. Hop in. Next stop: Wherever it wants us to go," she laughed.

Asher and Star got into the ship, and floated off into the sky.

Inuyasha let out a loud "Hm". "I still don't like him."

Kagome laughed. "You don't like anyone, Inuyasha. Just grab the Jewel Shards and let's go."


	30. Chapter 29

The ship landed. "So, where are we now?" asked Asher casually, climbing out.

Star collapsed the ship down and placed it in her pack. "According to what the ship said, we're in a place called the 'Olympus Coliseum'."

Asher looked up and saw an enormous marble-looking building ahead of him. It had some strange writing carved into it. It looked like some kind of stadium. "Well, that would explain the cheering."

They heard distinct shouting noises coming from inside the building. They ran inside, only to be stopped by a strange, short, half man, half goat creature. "Hey, just whadda you guys think you're doin'?"

Star started to say something, but Asher noticed she was stumbling on her words. "Well, we were looking to join this nice tournament you guys have set up."

"Ha! Two newcomers, little KIDS in a tournament like this? Good luck! You've got a better chance of taking over Sora's job! Now that guy, he was a real hero."

Star showed the man the Keyblade. "I DID take over Sora's job."

"Well, I'll be!" the little man scratched his head and held out his hand. "Name's Phil. Who are you two, and what brings you here? We haven't had Heartless here in a while, so you can't be here to get rid of them. Sure, Hades has been acting up a bit but Herc'll take care of him just like he always did. These two new challengers, though, they're something else…But I digress."

"I'm Star, and this is Asher! It's nice to meet you, Phil."

"So why ARE you two here? You guys need some training?"

Asher stepped forward. "Well, I don't know about her, but I could definitely use some training. And some practice. I seem to have forgotten my ability to fight."

Phil smiled. "All right. Come with me."

He waved his hand, and Asher followed him to a small door that lead to a separate part of the Coloseum. As Asher looked around, he saw some pots.

"Okay, kid. Grab that sword of yours and let's get started. I'm gonna count to five. I want all sixty of these pots broken by that time."

Asher uneasily grabbed his sword. Sixty pots. That was a lot for five seconds. "Ready? GO!"

Asher dashed at one of the pots, but they suddenly started moving, and he tripped in surprise.

Phil shook his head. "ONE!"

Still in midair, Asher's head made direct contact with a pot and he fell to the ground. Struggling to get up despite a headache, he tried to shake it off.

"TWO!"

Asher grabbed his sword, and swung it against a pot. It made a clanging sound, and he felt a sharp pain in his hands. Apparently these pots were tough. They wouldn't break easily.

"THREE!"

In slight annoyance, Asher punched a pot. He screamed as he almost fractured his hand.

"FOUR!"

"I….CAN'T….DO IT……DAMNIT!" As the pots floated around him, he clutched his head in rage, then extended his arms. His hands began to glow until the entire training grounds was lit by an unimaginably bright light. A horrible roaring noise was heard, and when the light cleared, all the pots were on the ground in millions of pieces. Asher fell to one of his knees and began to breathe heavily, barely supporting himself with an arm on the knee on which he wasn't kneeling.

Phil stood in awe. "…Five."

Asher stood up, having caught his breath. He looked at all the broken pots and rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "How did I do that?"

"I was about to ask YOU the same question. You're no ordinary kid, are you?"

Asher clenched his right fist slightly and looked at it while he held his sword in his left hand. "I guess not."

"All right, then. Time for training phase two," Phil said as he snapped his fingers. "These look like Heartless, but they're just dummies. They were made so that I could train people, but there's some problems with them. Mainly they can't attack. They can just run and dodge."

"So…there gonna be a time limit here?"

"Nope. Just get 'em all."

Asher smirked. "Fine with me."

He ran out and began attacking some of the fake Heartless. He was surprised to find it was easier to use the sword he was carrying than he thought. It didn't take long to destroy most of the enemies. There was only one left, and Phil was impressed. "Just one to go, kid."

A sudden look of realization flashed across Phil's face. At that moment, Asher swung his sword at the last enemy. Smiling in triumph as the sword approached it, Asher was caught off guard by what happened next. The enemy quickly brought out a sword of its own…and BLOCKED his attack. Confused and surprised, Asher jumped back. "Phil…I thought you said these things couldn't fight back."

Phil started walking backward as well. "That one…that one's not one of ours."

The Heartless displayed its sword with an evil grin. "So," said Asher, trying not to sound discouraged, "this is a REAL one?"

"I think so."

"Great."

Suddenly, the Heartless charged. Asher flipped over it as it did, narrowly avoiding its attack. He took a swing at it, but it blocked. As it swung at him, he dodged, and tried to cut off its head. Unfortunately, it was faster than he thought, and the sword was in the way long before his own reached the neck. Asher pushed his own sword toward the Heartless, and it began to slowly move backwards under the pressure. "A Heartless took my heart once. It's not going to happen again."

Asher jumped backward and charged. The Heartless blocked a seemingly endless string of powerful blows from Asher, but it seemed to weaken. Asher pressed his attack more, and the Heartless was soon much to tired to block anymore. It dodged a final slash from Asher, but as Asher pulled away his sword, it went to block a final time. It realized its mistake only too late. Asher's last slash was a feint. He brought his foot hard into the stomach of the Heartless, causing it to flinch awfully. He slammed his elbow into the back of its neck, making it fall to the ground. He then unmercifully thrust his sword straight into the Heartless' would-be spine. It vanished in a cloud of dust.

Suddenly, an odd sound was heard, and more Heartless appeared, just like the one he'd defeated only seconds ago. Asher looked around and saw no choice but to fight the Heartless. He counted…one…two…three…four…five…six. Six Heartless. He readied his guard. As the Heartless charged, he parried one, causing its sword to plunge itself deep into another's skull. He kicked the wielder square in the face, so that it and the victim flew into a wall and vanished. Two down. As the four remaining Heartless got into a box formation around him, he knew what would happen next. They'd all charge at the same time. He jumped, and the four collided and vanished. Another appeared in front of him. "Just how many of these bastards are there?!"

Two more appeared behind that one.

Asher sighed. "I had to ask."

Heartless began to appear in rows behind the three, all with the same horrible grin.

Asher turned to ask Phil for some help, but he was long gone. He looked back at the Heartless. There were now too many to count. He took a step back. "What I wouldn't give to be a Nobody again for just one lousy second."

He heard a voice. It sounded familiar. "Giving up already?"

"Huh?"

The voice was his own, but it came from inside his head. "Oh, come on, Asher, I know you're better than that. After all, I only held HALF your power."

The world around Asher instantly faded. He found himself in the darkness, with a familiar face staring at him. The person laughed. "Surprised to see me, Asher?"

"Kinda. I figured something like this wouldn't happen…I kept consciousness while being a Nobody."

"So that makes you immune to seeing me?"

"Well, I…"

"Face it, Asher. Even if you think you were conscious, you weren't. At least, not entirely. Fact of the matter is, I'm not all you. I'm a part of you, for sure. But I'm also a different person. Of course, you obviously didn't know it. You've barely tapped my power, Asher. You tried to wield the Nothing Blade in Japan. A futile effort for a human with a heart."

Xanthas seemed to scoff at the word 'heart'.

"Why are you here? I'm about to die, and you decide to interrupt?"

Xanthas laughed. "I'm not interrupting anything. No matter how long it seems to you that you've spent here, this is happening faster than an instant. You think you're about to die? Then you're a coward."

"Easy for you to say. You can't feel fear. You can't feel anything. You CAN'T be a coward."

"I may not have the ability to be a coward, but YOU have the ability to NOT be cowardly."

"A lovely sentiment. But it doesn't help me any. It doesn't make me any stronger, doesn't get me any closer to beating these stupid Heartless."

"Forget the damn Heartless! Those pathetic fools are barely worth your efforts! Remember, there's still Remnant. Deal with the source of the Heartless later."

"Xanthas…"

"The girl can help. Star. And Brandon, too. Those two are going to be great allies to you. You guys are capable of a lot, if you work together."

"How do you know?"

"I just do. I'd do all this myself if I had the chance, but I'm part of you again. You can have my power and my skill, but my brain…my personality…It's all right here, neatly tucked away where you can't get it, not even if I want to let you."

"Who made you such a big hero, Xanthas?"

"That's not the right question."

"Then what is?"

"The right question is…Why do you have such a hard time believing YOU'RE a hero, Asher?"

Xanthas laughed. He grabbed Asher's sword, and tossed it aside. "Take this. It'll help you better."

Asher was able to make out the weapon's form, even in the darkness. "But…how?"

"Did you really think there was only one Keyblade? That there was only one Master?"

"Xanthas, I…"

"You got a lot to learn, kid. But you're strong, I'll give you that. That's partly because of me. Take care. And get rid of those Heartless. They really tick me off."

Asher was thrust back into the real world. As he saw the Heartless gathering to attack, he decided to charge. With a single slash, he destroyed four. With another, five more. They couldn't even block him at that point. His few successful attacks gave him confidence. He became bolder, and eventually destroyed all the Heartless.

As Asher sat down to think, Phil came running in, with a very buff guy following him.

"This is the place, Herc! There's way too many Heartless for the kid to…"

"Phil, I don't see any Heartless. But that guy looks really tired."

Phil looked in disbelief. The Heartless were all gone. Impossible…

Asher stood up and held out the Keyblade. "Guess you're right. Guess I'm not just some ordinary kid."

"But…how? How do you have the Keyblade?" asked Phil.

"I guess…there's more than one."

A flash of flame appeared. A blue man in a dark grey toga with flames for hair approached Asher. "Hey, kid. Name's Hades, Lord of the Dead, nice to meet ya," he said as he limply shook his hand. Without even taking another breath, he continued. "So, nice performance here, very nice. Say, how'd you be interested in joining a tournament? I'd say you're well-qualified and there is a TREMENDOUS PRIZE for the winner."

Hades snapped his fingers and a ticket appeared in his hand.

"What do you say, huh? You'd really impress that little girlfriend of yours if you won a tournament, don't you think?"

Asher looked up at the last sentence with anger. "Star is not my girlfriend."

"Aw, c'mon, kid, there's no need to hide it. Besides, guys don't usually go traveling with just ANY girl, especially if they're driving, am I right?" Hades laughed.

Asher brought the Keyblade to his throat. "My fiancé is gone. I don't know where she is but I intend to FIND her. Star's helping me look for her. I'm helping her look for Brandon, her friend. We're friends, that's all. If you want to think something differently I may have to remove your head."

Hades wasn't discouraged. "Hey, did you say Brandon? We got a Brandon here, I think. Actually he's in the Coliseum right now!"

Asher moved the Keyblade away. "Take me to him, then. And you'd better not be lying."

Hades laughed. "All right." Under his breath, Hades muttered, "Jeez, what a stiff."


	31. Chapter 30

Hades led Asher back into the Coliseum Lobby, where Star was eyeing some of the fancy, shining trophies. "And who's THIS…lovely young lady?"

Star turned around, smiling. However, when she saw Hades, her smile turned into a slight frown. "The name's Star."

"Star. Such an interesting name. Ah, yes, Star. The one this stiff's traveling with. How nice. Say, I was just about to show him the guy he says he's looking for. Some Brandon character. What do you say we all three go together, hm?"

Star's sour demeanor lifted. "Brandon?! Let's go!"

Hades laughed. "Full of fire, you two. Well, he's right here in the Coliseum! Let's just step through this doorway…"

Hades led them through the doorway into the stadium. Thunderous applause was heard as a small challenger in the center of the arena sliced a humongous Heartless in half. "Ah, see, the Heartless make such GREAT challengers! The crowd loves it, and nobody cares if the Heartless die, I mean, after all, they're just Heartless, am I right?" Hades said, chuckling.

His little speech was lost on Star, who was already running toward the challenger. Asher could tell even from where he was that it was Brandon. Also ignoring Hades, he walked over to Star and Brandon. Hades rolled his eyes. "Yeesh. There's TWO Keybladers here, and that one, and yet NEITHER of them are showing ANY interest as to why the Heartless are here. I could have SWORN it was in the Keyblader job description to meddle. Especially after that little Sora punk. Oh well. No matter. I suppose I'll just have to go to plan 'B'." With that, Hades disappeared in a puff of flames.

When Asher approached Star and Brandon, Star had Brandon in a deathgrip of a hug. Brandon barely managed to choke out the words "I…missed…you…too…Star…"

Star let him down. "Brandon, it's so great to see you again!"

Brandon took a deep breath. "Good to see you, too. I was worried something might have happened to you," he said. He looked up, and saw Asher. "Xanthas?"

Asher smiled. "Not anymore."

"You got your heart back? Hm. That was quick. So why are you two here?"

"We came to find you, of course," said Asher. "Star here just couldn't go on with her job without you, you know?"

Star blushed. "Shut up!"

Asher laughed.

Brandon laughed as well. "Am I gonna have to stand BETWEEN you two so you won't bother each other?"

"You can go ahead, but I don't know what you expect it to do."

"So," said Star, "are you ready to go, Brandon?"

"Not yet. I've got a tournament to win. I'm gonna come out of here with the grand prize trophy."

"So, what, do you expect us to just sit on the sidelines and root for you the whole time?"

Brandon contemplated that. "Well…actually…I was hoping you guys would join me. It's not too late for us to enter as a team. You can enter up to two teammates until the Preliminaries are over. What do you say?"

Star looked at Asher. Asher smiled and nodded. "Looks like we're in!"

"Great! The next round's in a few hours. Let's get caught up first. I'll tell you guys all about what happened to me if you guys tell me what's happened to you."

"Deal."

---

Hades watched from inside the dark corridor. He saw the three smiling, laughing, and finally walking away. He heard a voice beside him. "They don't look like much."

"Heh. See, that's your problem. That's what I thought about the last Keyblader. Then he turned out to be a HUGE thorn in my side. So I'm not underestimating these ones. That's where YOU come in."

"Hm. Right. What was our little deal, again?"

"The guy you're looking for. I can help you find out where he is. Although, I gotta say, after all this time you'd think you two would have settled your differences by now."

"He got away. Thanks to the Heartless."

"Right, the Heartless. Took away the world, huh? Well that's fine. I can still help you find this…What was his name again? Something to do with the sky, right? Bird?"

The man next to Hades sighed. "Cloud. His name is Cloud."

"Ah, yes, Cloud, of course. So, Sephiroth, what do you say? I help you find Cloud, IF you get rid of Hercules and these little brats."

"I say I'm better off looking for him myself."

"Ha! Good luck with that, pretty boy. He could be on ANY world. There's a LOT of worlds out there, you know. And who knows? You may get out there and one of you could have a little 'accident'. These things happen."

"Are you threatening me?"

Hades laughed. "Of course not! But it's kinda hard to prevent unforeseeable unfortunate circumstances, huh? Just stick to the deal and we're both home free."

"What makes you think you can help me?"

"Well, there's one simple fact you maybe didn't know—I'm a GOD. The God of the Underworld! Lord of the Dead! Hades!" Flames shot from his arms.

"Hmph. A flashy introduction. But you know, I was a god, too, once."

"Oh, you were? Now, how'd that work out for you, hm?"

Sephiroth said nothing.

"Ooooh, Mister Bigshot lost his power! Oh, don't bother to explain how, I don't need the details. Point is, you NEED me. You can't find Cloud on your own. I won't pretend I'm controlling you here. It's a deal. Nothing more than that. You take out Hercules, and the three pests. I tell you where Cloud is. It's a win-win situation. Capiché?"

Sephiroth turned away and began walking. "Very well. I'll play your little game, Hades. But just remember: I'll hold up my end of the deal. I expect you to do the same."

As Sephiroth walked away, Hades began talking to himself. "Ugh. You know, sometimes I really wonder how these people end up here? Jeez. You bring a guy back from the dead for a simple task and look what happens? He gets an ATTITUDE. And I thought Auron was a one-time deal. Well, this one's going off without a hitch. That much I know for sure. The kids…consider 'em dead. And the big hero? He's toast."

Hades returned to his chamber, laughing evilly.


	32. Chapter 31

Star, Brandon, and Asher walked out into the arena. This was their first match outside the preliminaries. Star and Brandon were eager, and so was Asher. However, Asher was slightly preoccupied. When Brandon asked him to share what his problem was, Asher sighed. "I don't know. Something doesn't…doesn't FEEL right about this. Think about it. The Lord of the Underworld's holding a tournament, and we're a part of it. Don't you think that's just a LITTLE odd?"

He felt a whoosh by his head, and four very large Heartless entered the arena. They looked like giant purple people…except for the fact that they were unbelievably fat. Two of them were dressed in purple clothes, and the other two in orange. The ones in orange sucked in some air. Before the three could think, they leaned forward and flames erupted from their mouths! Brandon jumped in front of Star and Asher and twirled his blade in the air, deflecting the fire. "Guess we don't have a choice now, do we?"

Asher dodged a punch from one of the purple-clothed Heartless and slashed at it, cutting a hole in its shirt, but not killing it. "Guess not."

Star did a backflip over one of the four Heartless and cut through its neck. Its head fell off, and it fell to the ground with a thunderous bang. The ground shook. Landing gracefully, Star prepared her Keyblade for another strike. "Suits me."

Brandon plunged his sword into the back of another, and it vanished. He smiled.

The two remaining Heartless closed in on Asher. "Hm. Guess I'll just take these two, then."

He jumped to the side and drove his own Keyblade into the shoulder of one of the two Heartless. He then kicked it in the head, sending it careening into the other one, and the two vanished in an impressive flash of light. Star looked jealous. "How come YOU get two?"

Asher smirked. "I'll make it up to you. You can have ALL of them in the next match."

Brandon was about to say something, but Star laughed. "That's all I ask."

"So who're we fighting next?" Asher asked.

As the three walked out of the arena, Brandon looked at the standings. "Hm. Says here we're up against 'The Elements' in the next round."

"'The Elements'?" Asher wondered. "With a name like that…Hm. I really don't know what to think."

"Well," said Star, "they gotta be good if they made it to the semifinals."

"Does it say who they are?"

"Nope. Just says there's three of them."

"I see. Well, let's get going. I hear the fanfare playing. That means we're back on. I guess that last match ended real quick."

The three walked into the arena, ready to battle. However, when they looked up, they let down their guard. Star gasped. Brandon looked amazed. "What…the…hell are they?"

Asher didn't have to think for a second. "In Greek Mythology, Hades, the God of the Underworld, plotted time and again against Zeus to try to take over the throne. Zeus sealed up some of Hades' biggest allies: the Titans. My guess? These three guys somehow escaped the seal."

"Wait, Asher," said Star. "You're telling me, that these three, our opponents, are MYTHICAL TITANS?"

Brandon readied his sword. "He's not telling you they're fluffy bunnies."

"Well put."

Suddenly, a flash was heard behind them. "Aw, don't tell me you three are ready to give up already?"

Brandon turned to Hades. "Please. Who said we were giving up? Get out of here. You'll just get hurt."

"Oh, you know, an insult like that might actually hurt if it came from someone taller."

Asher turned around. "Shut up, Hades. We got some Titans to beat."

"Oh? You guys really think you can beat the Titans of Ice, Rock, and Wind?" Hades laughed. "Well, if you're that confident, be my guest! I do love a good funeral or three."

Star smirked, but didn't turn around. "Then you'll be happy. Though I doubt you'll have big enough caskets for these guys when this is over."

Hades smiled evilly. "Oooh, you guys got FIRE. I LIKE that. Heheheh. Good luck, you three. You'll need it."

Hades disappeared, and the three were left alone to look the Titans in the eyes. Big, brown, and bulky, the two-headed Rock Titan didn't seem very smart…but he looked strong. He'd have to be, just to keep himself up. The slender, crystalline Ice Titan seemed to chill the very air around them. Of course, there was also the Wind Titan. He seemed a whirlwind of pure energy…or wind…or something of the sort. There really wasn't a way to describe that mass of air...

A trumpet was heard. It was time for the match to start.

Brandon lunged toward Star, screaming, "Look out!"

He just barely managed to grab her and pull her out of the way of one of the feet of the Rock Titan. Star smiled at Brandon. "Thanks."

Suddenly, they heard a noise and saw Asher slicing a gigantic icicle down the middle, the two halves falling harmlessly to the side. He took a big breath. Obviously it took a lot of effort to break that ice. "If you two lovebirds are done, I think we still have a match to fight here!"  
Star got up. "Fine. Let's do this, then." She ran toward the Rock Titan and slashed at one of its feet. The Keyblade moved through the air like a bullet, closer and closer to the foot, until…it stopped dead. It hit the foot, a loud CLANG was heard, and Star just stood there for a moment. Her hands and the Keyblade were both vibrating profusely. "Ooooooow….." she said silently.

"Star, are you okay?" asked Brandon, who was charging the Ice Titan. He didn't even make it halfway before the Titan caught him by surprise by freezing his feet to the ground. The Titan leaned forward, his face directly in front of Brandon. It roared loudly, and Brandon felt an extremely powerful breeze. He brought his sword down to his feet, broke the ice, and jumped just as the Ice Titan began to breathe ice directly where he'd been standing. He came down quickly, smashing his sword into the Titan's nose. The tiniest chip broke off, but the Titan was just too tough. It stepped back, surprised and angry. "Oh, this can't be good."

Asher yelled loudly, "You think you got it bad? At least you got something to HIT! I don't even know how the hell to fight this thing!"

The enormous Wind Titan simply stood, laughing as Asher slashed and slashed, each movement of his Keyblade leading it straight through the Titan's body, without harming it at all. Suddenly, the Titan apparently got bored, and lashed out with an appendage created from a slight breeze. The wind roared as it slammed Asher back into the stands, narrowly missing a few members of the cheering audience. The audience around him was ecstatic. "You can do it, you three! Beat those behemoths!"

Asher stood up, face turning pink. "Well, I…I guess we could…"

A hefty looking woman in the seat behind him leaned toward him and began to yell. "YOU BETTER GET THE HELL BACK OUT THERE! I GOT FORTY GOLD PIECES RIDING ON THIS FIGHT, DAMNIT!"

Asher stepped back in surprise. "Well! I'll be SURE to win this fight for YOU, then." Shaking his head, he ran back out into the arena.

He saw Brandon's head suddenly perk up, as if he had an idea. Brandon stopped in the middle of his fight with the Ice Titan and gently put the point of his blade into the ground. As far as Asher could guess, he was gathering up his strength. He stopped to watch Brandon for a moment. Maybe he was being stupid…but…maybe he was on to something. His sword began to glow red at the tip, and the light traveled up the blade and into Brandon's hand, and was soon coursing all across his body. He pulled the sword back, ready to strike. He leapt into the air and flipped up to the Ice Titan's head. Bringing the sword over his own head, he plunged it into the Ice Titan's skull. Asher expected the sword to bounce harmlessly off, like the last time, but something different happened. The sword burst into the Titan's head and Brandon pulled it all the way down its body. When Brandon landed on the ground, it was evident that he'd cut the Titan in half. The Titan tried to pull itself together, but its wound glowed bright red, and it began to melt. Asher smirked. Well, one down.

He heard the sound of a roaring tornado. The Wind Titan had come back for more. As he turned around, Asher had to quickly jump to the side to avoid a huge gust. He looked up. Damn. Nothing on the Titan was solid. Nothing at all. It was all just swirling wind…Wait a moment. At the top…the very top…the head. THE EYES. The eyes were some sort of solid gems. He knew what to do. He waited for the Titan to strike again, and he rolled to the side. Then, he jumped directly into the Titan's body. The swirling vortex dragged him straight up to the head, and he saw the eyes more closely. They weren't very large, maybe a quarter of his size at most. He threw his Keyblade, striking one eye, knocking it out. Holding out his hand, he summoned his Keyblade for another throw, and once the second eye was gone, the wind subsided. As he hit the ground, he sliced one of the eyes, then walked over and crushed the other one with his foot. He looked over to see Star, still struggling with the Rock Titan. He decided to give her a little advice. "STAR! GO FOR THE EYES!"

Star looked at Asher for a split second, then back at the Titan. "Um…Okay!"

Brandon ran up behind her. "I'll give you a boost!"

She jumped back, and Brandon held out his hands. She landed on them, and Brandon pulled them up, launching her to a small rock jutting out from the Titan's body. She jumped from there to one of his arms, and, dodging its other arm as it swatted at her, ran up the arm and toward its head. "Take this, ugly!" She plunged her Keyblade into one eye, then the other. The Titan fell back and crumbled to bits, and she climbed out of the rubble. She coughed. "Well, I think we won."

The three smirked and walked out of the stadium. They noticed Hades standing in the doorway. "Hm. I'm almost impressed."

Asher shot a glance at him. "We're ready for the finals whenever, Hades. Let us know when you get it cleaned up." The three walked away, leaving Hades fuming.


	33. Chapter 32

Sephiroth watched from the shadows as his three challengers approached the arena. He rolled his eyes as he heard a POOF. It was that fool, Hades. "What exactly is your concern now, Hades?"

"Now, you should know better than to talk to me like that. It's LORD Hades!"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes again and sighed. "Fine. LORD Hades. What's your concern?"

"You're not thinking of going back on our deal, are you?"

"I'm here, aren't I? Now what are you REALLY thinking?"

"Well, with how easily those three destroyed the Titans, I was worried you might be backing down."

Sephiroth scoffed. "The Titans are fools. They have too many weaknesses, and they do nothing to protect them. Their fate was handed to them because they were failures."

"Oh, so you're telling me you don't have a weakness? That's…kinda arrogant, don't you think, Pretty Boy?"

"Hmph. I prefer the term 'accurate'."

"You insolent little…"

"Oh, be silent, LORD Hades. We both know that you wanted me to take on these children because you NEED me. Because I'm stronger than you. So please, for your own sake, stop this charade. Stop thinking that you're better than me, because you're not. You just use others as pawns to defeat your enemies. You have no honor, and you have no strength. Your cunning can only get you so far."

Hades rested himself lazily balanced on Sephiroth's shoulder, shrugging off the insult. "Hey, you're right, I can't take those kids. But YOU can! Remember: I'm the one that's gonna help you find Cloud! So I'd suggest you get in there, stop complaining and just do your job. That way, we all go home happy at the end of the day, huh? How's that sound to you?"

Sephiroth scoffed again.

"Otherwise, you may have a little ACCIDENT with Cerberus."

Sephiroth laughed. "That worthless little mutt? If you value his life you won't so much as let him BREATHE on me. Otherwise, your Underworld will be needing a new Guardian."

"You know what? Fine, I'll leave. But just remember who's trying to help you out—who's trying to be the nice guy here. Just win the match."

The trumpet sounded to start the match. "I couldn't lose if I tried."

---

Brandon, Star, and Asher stood waiting for their opponent. Asher was getting impatient. "Come on, can we hurry this up? I'm sure we all have things to do, and the trumpets sounded five minutes ago."

Suddenly, a shadow of a man appeared in the gateway. He walked slowly toward them. "So anxious to die?"

The man with long, flowing silver hair walked in an almost feminine way as a single black-feathered wing unfolded from the right side of his back. His black coat hung down almost over his pants, and he had a metal shoulder plate on his left side. The metal armbands on his wrists weren't enough to draw attention away from his clawlike fingers, and certainly didn't come close to overshadowing his obscenely long sword. It looked like it was at least twice as long as the man was tall. Asher felt awkward seeing this well-dressed man walking into the arena, with Brandon and Star, who were dressed in shorts and t-shirts with some sort of spherical logo on the shoulders, and himself, in his own grayish-black cloak—courtesy of a fallen member of Organization XIII.

Brandon looked confused. "What, you're gonna try to kill us? Isn't this match supposed to be for fun?"

Sephiroth said nothing.

Asher smirked. "Brandon, look at the scowl on that guy's face. I'll be this is the first time he's even HEARD the word 'fun'."

Brandon turned to Star. "Well, what do you think? Think we can take him?"

Star simply stood, jaw agape, staring at the man.

Asher turned around. He waved his hand in front of her face. "Uh…Star? Hello? Are you in there?"

Star pushed Asher aside and walked up to the man. She held out her hand, grabbed his, and shook it profusely. Without even breathing, she quickly and giddily said, "Hi I'm Star what's you're name it's nice to meet you you know you're kinda cute hey do you wanna go out sometime I know you're probably older than me but that's okay because I like older guys and…" she kept babbling to the man, who looked extremely discomforted.

A look of defeat flushed across Brandon's face. "Star…what are you doing?"

Star didn't pay any attention and simply continued babbling.

Asher rolled his eyes. "Does she always do this?"

Brandon wasn't listening. He simply stared at Star and whispered, "What does that guy got that I don't have?"

Asher slapped himself in the face in frustration. "I'm surrounded by people with ADD. How do I get myself into this kinda stuff?"

Brandon didn't move a muscle. He simply stood there, jealously staring at Star and the man, who was now trying very hard to pry her hand from his. He didn't really get to say much between Star's few small breaths. "But…Okay…That's…no…okay…uh…you can stop now…okay…"

Asher, head in his hand, still frustrated, walked over to the two of them. "Okay, that's enough, we're done here. Time to start the match."

He grabbed Star's wrist and she let go of Sephiroth's hand. "Hey, what are you doing?"

He began to drag her back to where Brandon was standing. "Wave bye-bye to the pretty man, Star. It's time to kill him anyway."

Sephiroth was unequivocally confused. Who were these children?

Asher stopped next to Brandon, and Star seemed to calm down. "Okay, now are we ready to start this match?"

"Very well," said Sephiroth. "If you're prepared to leave this world, so be it."

Asher turned back to Star and Brandon. "Okay, guys, he looks to be pretty good, so we're going to take him—"

Brandon brought out his sword angrily and charged Sephiroth.

"—together."

Sephiroth sidestepped Brandon's charging slash, and slapped him in the face. Brandon flew across the arena.

"Okay, Star, then WE'LL take him together."

It was too late. Star was already charging Sephiroth as well, apparently over her five-second crush. "How dare you hurt Brandon?!"

Sephiroth simply jumped behind her and hit her in the back of the head with his blade's hilt. She went down like a rock with instantaneous temporary paralysis.

Asher rolled his eyes. "Okay, I guess I'll take him myself, then."

"Fool. What makes you think you can?" Sephiroth disappeared.

Not surprised in the least, Asher drew his Keyblade and swung it behind his back. It made contact with Sephiroth's sword and he jumped back. "Damn! But how?"

Asher smirked. "I saw your semifinal match. Nice moves, by the way."

He turned around to see Sephiroth slashing again. He blocked, and slid back in the dirt of the arena. Sephiroth smiled and advanced. Each swing that Asher blocked threw him back further. "I'm stronger than you, child."

As Sephiroth swung again, Asher simply said, "That's great…" and this time, caught Sephiroth's sword with his Keyblade and threw it to the side, causing Sephiroth to lose his balance. He then jumped up and kicked Sephiroth square in the back of the head. "…but I'm smarter."

Sephiroth flew a small way across the arena, but disappeared before he hit the ground. Asher then instinctively rolled to the side, and a sword ripped through the air where he'd just been standing. He then plunged his Keyblade into Sephiroth's shoulder.

Sephiroth choked in slight pain, but then began to laugh. The laugh echoed as he disappeared again, and reappeared in front of Asher. Asher saw small feathers floating in the air where Sephiroth had appeared. "Fool. The fight's just beginning."

The wound on Sephiroth's shoulder closed tightly, and even the fabric of his coat reassembled itself over the newly healed shoulder. Asher took a few steps back. "Star? Brandon? Uh…guys? Now would be a REALLY great time to wake up!"

Sephiroth smiled evilly and advanced on Asher.


	34. Chapter 33

Sephiroth took another step and Asher's look of horror started to fade slightly. "Who…who are you?"

"I am Sephiroth. And that's all I am going to tell you…before you die."

Asher blocked a slash with his Keyblade. "I'm not dying. Not today."

Sephiroth smiled viciously as their blades continued to clang together. "Someone's going to die today, Asher."

"How do you know my name?"

"Hades told me. You know, it's almost too bad. You're not a bad swordsman. Another ten years and you might prove to be a challenge. It's almost sad to know I'll have to kill you at the end of this match."

Asher swung his Keyblade with enough force to finally knock Sephiroth back. He charged him. "It's YOU who'll die, Sephiroth! I've got more power in this blade than you could possibly imagine!"

Sephiroth smirked and held out his right hand as if he were grasping something out of the air. "Not enough."

Suddenly, Asher was pushed back by an intense heated shockwave as pillars of flame burst from the ground around Sephiroth. He flew onto the arena floor, and a sickening CRACK resonated through the stadium. Sephiroth casually strolled up to Asher's body and plunged his sword into his chest. Asher's body went through a horrible convulsive spasm as he choked, spitting out a minute amount of blood.

Asher began to fade from consciousness. He found himself once again floating in darkness. A familiar figure appeared. "So, you're giving up."

"Giving up? I'm dead, Xanthas!"

Xanthas laughed. "Dead? Are you so sure? Don't you have a little faith left in you?"

"Faith in WHAT!? My friends were idiots, they charged him and got themselves knocked, out or worse, and I couldn't take this guy on if his hands were tied behind his back, his legs were cut off, and he was blindfolded with a cloth covered in cyanide!"

"So you are giving up, then? That's too bad. I would have thought someone with all my power could actually do something with it. Shame. I guess Ansem was wrong. Not so wise, after all, was he?"

"Listen, Xanthas, I don't have a choice whether or not to give up here! I have a sword through my chest! I'm dying!"

"Do you have to be dying?"

Asher thought for a moment. "What do you mean?"

Xanthas laughed. "You've got a Keyblade. It's got incredible magic power. I'm sure it could heal you if you used it right."

"And what makes you think that I can use that power?"

Xanthas tapped him on the head, as someone would tap a television antenna to try to get a better signal. "You've got the blade, haven't you? That alone means you can use it. You just gotta do it."

"I…I don't know how."

Xanthas sighed. "I'll help you this time, kid, but that's it. You're on your own after this."

The darkness around Asher instantly faded away. He saw Sephiroth's triumphant smirk as he waited to hear the last breath of his victim escape from his lungs. Suddenly, Asher felt a surge of energy through his body. It was like he couldn't control it. His hand grabbed Sephiroth's sword by the blade and ripped it from his own chest. Sephiroth stepped back in amazement as the Keyblade glowed and Asher's wound began to heal itself. When Asher got up, he looked around, as if to see if he could find the source of what had happened. Xanthas' voice echoed in his head. "That's all. I can't help you after this. From now on, you're on your own."

Sephiroth wiped the blood from his sword onto the ground. "That's impossible! I stabbed you right through the heart! You should be DEAD!"

Asher clenched his fist and looked down at it. He looked back up at Sephiroth. "I guess my heart's tougher than you think."

He advanced on Sephiroth, wildly swinging the Keyblade, nearly throwing Sephiroth off-balance. The advance lasted for what seemed like hours. Finally, Sephiroth realized that he wasn't going to get an opening—his opponent wasn't going to tire out. He teleported to another end of the arena. "I wasn't expecting to have to do this…but if I must…"

Asher gripped his Keyblade tightly. "What are you talking about?!"

A strange light glowed over Sephiroth. The same light began to float above Asher's head. "What? What's going on?"

Sephiroth held his hand up in the air, clenched it into a fist, and brought it down slowly, as if it were for some sort of hand movement spell. "Descend, heartless angel!"

Asher doubled over and began screaming in agony. He clutched his head as pain flowed across his body like blood spilling across pavement. Sephiroth laughed evilly. "You were a fool to come here!"

Despite his anguish, Asher managed to struggle to his feet. "Seph…iroth…just…stop…come down here…and fight me."

"You imbecile! It's over! I'll show you the true meaning of suffering! Now, beg for mercy and I may kill you more quickly!"

"You just don't…" Asher coughed. "…get it…do you?" He inched his way toward Sephiroth.

"You can't…you can't just use…some…damn…magic…trick…and expect me to give up…just like that…to just…let you…kill me…" He was close, now. He could hit Sephiroth if he could just swing his blade…

"Who…the hell are you?!" Sephiroth shouted, amazed. "You…you're not human! You can't be human!"

"But…I am human…Sephiroth." Asher smiled through his pain. "Better than…being…a demon." Instead of swinging the Keyblade, Asher managed to land a punch square in Sephiroth's jaw. The spell broken, Asher felt rejuvenated. "Heh. Now, Sephiroth. Let's settle this fight like men. Sword to sword."

Sephiroth began an advance on Asher. "Very well. This time, I won't hold back."

As Asher and Sephiroth became locked in combat once more, off to the side, Brandon was regaining his consciousness. He shook his head and saw that his vision was returning. A small headache throbbed through his brain for a moment, but then vanished. He looked around to see Star motionless on the ground, and Asher and Sephiroth exchanging powerful sword blows. Asher was putting a lot of strength into his attacks, but Sephiroth looked like he wasn't putting in any effort at all. He rushed over to Star to see if she was all right.

"Star? Are you okay? Star?!"

Star's eyelids spasmed, and she groaned in discomfort. "Bran…Brandon? Ugh, my head hurts. I think that guy hit me kinda hard."

"Star, you're okay! Come on, we gotta help Asher!"

The two watched as Asher and Sephiroth continued to fight each other, paying no heed to the fact that they'd awakened. Seeing their opportunity, the two thrust their swords into Sephiroth's back, pulled them out, and moved out of the way as Asher sliced across his chest and kicked him in the face. The broken Sephiroth lay motionless on the ground. Asher smiled. "See? That's why I wanted…to take him together," he said weakly.

The three began to walk away, looks of triumph on their faces. Suddenly, they heard a grunt and the beginning of a slight chuckle of amusement. "I'll admit…you three…you're skilled. But I have a deal to complete."

Asher, Brandon, and Star all stopped in their tracks. They looked back to see Sephiroth standing behind them, unharmed, wiping dust from his clothing. "It's too bad. You would have been great warriors. Perhaps even rivals in time. But we'll never know, will we?"

Sephiroth jumped forward, catching the trio off guard. His blade began to emanate a blackness from it that seemed to be deeper than the darkest depths of space. Without warning, he thrust it into Brandon's heart. There was no reaction. Brandon did not scream. He did not clutch himself in pain. He didn't even flinch. He simply slid off the blade, fell to the ground, and closed his eyes. Sephiroth jumped back. He sighed. "It's much too bad that it had to come to this."

Asher, astonished, watched as Star bent down to try to assist Brandon. "Brandon? Brandon, get UP! BRANDON, WHAT ARE YOU DOING, GET UP!"

"Star…I think I can heal him."

"Are you sure?"

"Well, I healed myself."

Asher pointed his Keyblade at Brandon and summoned a great deal of strength into the same kind of healing spell that had revived him. However, Brandon still lie there motionless. When the spell hit Brandon, his blade glowed red and there was a reverberative noise while his body underwent a convulsion. He went limp again. Asher tried again, but to no avail.

"I…I don't understand…that should have worked!"

"It didn't work? What do you mean? OH, BRANDON, WAKE UP! BRANDON, WAKE UP, DAMNIT, JUST WAKE UP, PLEASE WAKE UP!"

Sephiroth shook his head. "There's nothing you can do, child. His heart has returned to darkness…"

Asher protested. "But that doesn't matter! My heart came back from darkness!"

Sephiroth sighed again. "Not only has his heart returned to darkness, but his soul has departed his body."

"BRANDON! WAKE UP!"

Sephiroth took a step forward and brandished his weapon, the strange aura still surrounding it. "Foolish girl, don't you understand? He's DEAD! He won't be waking up, he's GONE!"

Star's eyes widened in terror and she fell to her knees. "No…that…that can't be…Brandon…" A single tear rolled down her cheek and landed softly in the sand. "Maybe…maybe this is it…maybe this is the end of the line. Maybe it's all over now. Are…are we gonna die here, too?"

Asher wasn't paying attention. His emotions…everything…all his rage was directed at Sephiroth. Without giving it another thought, he charged. Sephiroth, expecting the onslaught, prepared his sword. As Asher's fury exploded, Sephiroth's blade caught every blow.

Sephiroth smirked. "So much power. Such a waste, all this power in the hands of a fool."

"Bastard! You don't even CARE, do you?"

"About what? The life of a pitiful soul like your little friend? Of course not. The only life that matters is my own. Even if yours did matter…it's about to come to an end."

Sephiroth knocked Asher off balance. He hit him hard with the hilt of his sword and sent him tumbling backward. Asher got up, but found himself unable to get off his knees. Sephiroth had grabbed him by the hair, and had his sword to his throat. As Sephiroth squeezed Asher's hair, his grip on the Keyblade loosened, and it fell to the ground. "And now…you die."

Asher coughed. "Go to hell."

Sephiroth paused. "Are you still fighting? You are at your knees, when any mortal man would beg for mercy, forgiveness, or a quicker death, and yet with your last breath, you curse me? Your weapon is gone, and you have the audacity to still challenge my superiority? Even as my blade is at your throat you still have as much confidence as when yours was at mine?"

"You're not superior to me. I don't need my weapon, or your mercy. My confidence lasts as long as I'm still breathing, Sephiroth. My death will come however it will come. But it won't come today. I know that for sure."

Sephiroth's grip loosened. He withdrew his blade and threw Asher to the dusty ground. "You've got power. You've got determination. My deal with Hades was to kill you here, and the girl. It was to get me to Cloud. But I realize something. Cloud has the same determination as you. He wants to get to me as much as I to him. We have a score to settle, and we will settle it. I don't need the help of some God of the Underworld to find him. His heart will lead him to me, as the darkness will lead me to him. Be thankful. You live another day."

Sephiroth began to walk through the Coliseum gates. Hades attempted to stop him. "You're forgetting out deal! You only killed one, get back out there and get the other two!"

"Deal's off, Hades."

"You will do as I say!"

Sephiroth turned around, eyes fierce. "I said, 'Deal's off.'"

In anger, Hades approached Asher. "If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself!" He raised his arms to conjure the flames that would destroy the boy for good.

Suddenly, Asher got to his feet. He turned around to face Hades. "You."

"Oh, what's wrong? A little upset?"

"This is your fault. You got us into this tournament. You hired the punk that fought us…you're responsible for Brandon's death."

"Oh, right, that. Well, not to worry, because I'm about to be responsible for yours."

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. "You did this! You think you're going to kill me? You think I'm weak? That I'm powerless?"

Hades stopped conjuring fire. He took a step back, slightly afraid.

Asher began walking toward Hades, forcing him back to a wall. Hades waved his arms in a surrendering manner. "Hey, hey, we can talk about this, right? Huh? I can bring back your friend if you want…I am Lord of the Dead, after all."

Asher growled. "NO MORE TRICKS, HADES!" His hand shot out and clasped Hades' neck. He slammed Hades into the wall, causing a spiderline crack to work its way slowly up. Hades burst into flames, causing Asher to let go to avoid being burned. He turned around to see a giant hole in the ground between Hades and himself.

"Game over, kid! This hole leads straight to the deepest, darkest pits of the Underworld. There is no escape, no matter what. You fall down there, you're trapped forever. Death is nothing compared to the torture you'll endure!"

Hades began to shoot flames at Asher, trying to get him to fall into the pit. He then felt a large amount of weight crashing into him. He turned around to see a humongous orange-furred dog, tackling him to the side. The dog jumped, and Hades, having lost his balance, toppled over into the pit. With Hades falling, his power over the ground began to subside, and the hole closed.

Star touched a button on her Pokeball, and Arcanine returned. She now had Brandon's Pokeball, which contained his Misdreavus, on her belt. "Asher…"

Asher turned away. He pulled up the hood on his cloak.

"Asher, come on. We need to…" she choked. "…we need to find somewhere to bury the body."

Asher sighed. "No…we don't."

"What…what do you mean?"

"Just like the Heartless, just like weak Nobodies, Brandon has become a part of darkness. His heart, his soul, his mind…all that's left…"

Brandon's body began to disintegrate and dissipate into the air.

"…is his body."

Asher began to step toward the gates. "Wait, Asher, stop!"

Asher paused.

"Asher, where are you going? Where are you going, we need to stick together!"

A droplet of water fell from the darkness of the hood of the cloak. Asher continued out of the gate.

Star held out her hand as if to pull him back. "No, wait…please don't leave me…"

Asher's figure disappeared from view.

"…alone."

Asher stood on a low cliff jutting from the side of Mount Olympus, looking solemnly at the sunset on the horizon. His head in his hand, leaning his back against the side of the mountain, he kept replaying that moment in his head. Sephiroth had just been so fast. If only he could have had a little more warning, he could have…

_Could have what?_

"Hm. I thought you said you couldn't talk to me anymore."

_I said I couldn't help you in a fight. I'm in your head, now, Asher. I'll always be here._

"Great. I lose Brandon but I get to keep you. That just goes to show how great life is."

_Life isn't fair sometimes. Sometimes it doesn't last long. It's all in how you live it._

"Shut up. I don't need a lecture from you, and I don't need your philosophy."

_You need something. It's just like it's always been with you, isn't it? You have yourself a problem, and what do you do? You run away._

"I can't face her. Not after what happened. It's my fault."

_How is it your fault he's dead? Did you kill him?_

"I was there! I should have helped him…I should have…"

_Should have WHAT, Asher?! You COULD NOT help him. It's as simple as that. It was beyond your ability to help him. Beyond anyone's ability. He was taken in by a darkness more powerful than you could imagine. You were taken in by the darkness that sprouts from Heartless. He was taken by the the dark depths of death._

"There…there still might be something I can do…if I do some research…I might find a way to bring him back!"

_That's absurd._

"It's been done before. People have been revived…it takes powerful magic, but then the Keyblade is powerful."

_Asher, stop deluding yourself. Even if it could be done, it shouldn't._

"You shut up! I need to make good on this! I need to fix this!"

_IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT!_

"I…"

_Did YOU kill Brandon? No, Sephiroth did. Nothing you could have done could have prevented it. You have to ACCEPT that fact. Brandon's gone, and it is NOT YOUR FAULT. There's no bringing him back, Asher. It's best to leave the dead at peace._

Asher sighed.

_Besides, we've got some bigger problems now. Like the fact that you've just run away from the girl you're trying to help. Remember the promise you made to make good on something else? Weren't you going to help get back all the worlds that disappeared, that were taken by the Heartless?_

"I…I was."

_But you're not doing that now, are you? Just like every other time something got bad, you're running away. Even with that Keyblade, Asher, you're nothing but a worthless coward._

"I'm no coward."

_Then prove it! Get out there and help that girl beat the Heartless. Once you've done that then it's back to Trista. You can rest, and you can be happy._

"She won't even be able to look me in the eye…"

_Are you so sure? Look below._

Asher peered over the edge of the cliff. A little dot of a girl was wandering at the foot of the mountain. He heard her voice faintly. "Asher…Asher, where are you?! Come on, Asher, I know you went this way!"

_It doesn't look like she blames you. She's looking for you._

"Star…"

_Go on down there. Helping her is the only thing that can get you back to Trista._

Asher descended the mountain.


	35. Chapter 34

Asher sighed, leaning against a window in the Gummi Ship, watching the stars fly by as its autopilot guided them to the next troubled world. Star took the sigh as a sign that he wanted to talk—until then it had been a silent trip.

"The ship seems to be having a rough time finding trouble…that means there's not a lot of Heartless left, right?"

"The Heartless aren't the problem. Worthless freaks."

"What do you mean? Are you talking about that Xemnas character?"

"Remnant. He isn't Xemnas anymore."

"Oh. Well, is that who you're talking about?"

"Sure. He's the biggest threat now. He'll stop at nothing to become whole again…even turning us both into Heartless to absorb our Nobodies."

"That sounds terrible."

"Still a better fate than Brandon's," said Asher remorsefully.

Star frowned. "You can't blame yourself."

"You know damn well I can blame myself. Who else am I supposed to blame, huh? Hades? Sephiroth? The point is it was MY responsibility to keep you two out of trouble. Look what a great job I did of that."

"But you didn't KILL him!"

"Well, I might as well have! It's my fault he's gone! Then, I couldn't put myself in your position either. You'll have to tell his parents about his death."

"It'll be hard, but I think I can handle it."

"Lucky you."

"What is your problem?" Star demanded angrily.

"I'll TELL you what my problem is! My problem is that I'm responsible for someone's death!"

Asher suddenly collapsed on the floor, clutching his head.

"Asher, what's wrong?"

Asher simply writhed, clutching his head more tightly.

"Asher, what's going on?"

He could feel his heart pounding, pumping guilt through is body. It wouldn't stop. He had to stop it. He couldn't take it. It was his fault…it should have been him.

"Asher?"

His hands were wet. Something warm was covering them now. What could it be?

"Asher, STOP! You're bleeding!"

Asher froze. Blood? Bleeding? He pulled a hand away from his head and examined it. It was completely red. It was dripping. He'd dug his hands into his head so hard he'd caused himself to bleed. He felt himself slipping back into reality. He felt the cold floor, smelled the stuffy air…but suddenly reality was far away once again. Someone was there. It was Star. She leaned over and put her hand on his shoulder.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Surprised, she jumped back.

"Only one woman can touch me. Just Trista, not you."

"Asher, Trista's not here, and I'm worried about you."

"What do you mean, not here? She's supposed to be here. Where is she? What have you done with Trista!?"

Star was puzzled. "I haven't done anything with Trista."

"Liar! You're one of them!"

"One of who, Asher?" It was then that Star realized that Asher was not in his right mind.

"One of them…you're trying to get rid of her…you want me alone…"

---

"_Come on, big guy. You know you want to. You'll belong with us. Besides, she wouldn't love you like you are now. She couldn't."_

_The blonde haired woman was really starting to get on Xanthas' nerves. "Listen, bitch, I already told your little friends that you guys can take your deal and shove it. I'm not interested."_

_The woman pouted. "Oh, you're disappointing. I would have thought a brilliant, determined…ATTRACTIVE—" she slowly caressed his arm at the word. "—man such as yourself would be enthralled by an offer like this. Why won't you accept, Xanthas? Or…is it Asher?"_

_The truth was that he didn't really know. When he'd been whole, his mind had been so closely interwoven with his heart that he was completely unable to distinguish between the two. His emotions were tied to his brain almost as much as they were to his heart. He didn't know if he was really his Nobody or if he was simply himself, missing a piece._

"_It doesn't matter. I already said I'm not interested."_

_Her hand was on his chest now. It slowly worked its way down his side. "I can make it," she said as she moved her hand behind him and firmly grasped his buttocks, "worth your while."_

_Was this freak really offering sex as an incentive to join her Organization?_

"_You pathetic, manipulative, slimy little whore…are you telling me you're gonna sink that low to get to me?"_

"_Oh, I'll go as LOW as I need to," she said suggestively._

_Xanthas grunted in disgust._

"_Of course, I can see you're…opposed to the idea."_

"_To say the least," Xanthas said, grasping her wrist and pulling it away from him._

_With a simple twist of her hand, she now held his wrist. "But maybe it's not meant as an offer. Maybe it's a threat."_

"_You wouldn't dare."_

_A crooked smile shot across her face as she locked his hand behind his back. She pulled him close to her, so that their torsos rubbed together…so that he could feel her…_

"_Hm…I wonder…you've kept your innocence for her. What would you do to maintain it?" She pressed harder against his body, but her grip began to loosen, testing him, seeing what he would do next._

_He broke away. "You're sick."_

_She snapped her fingers and suddenly held a black cloak, much like her own. "The offer stands, Xanthas. As do the consequences of not accepting. Personally, I'm hoping you reject it at first. I'd love to get the chance to…persuade you."_

_Xanthas hung his head. He couldn't refuse. It just wasn't in him to betray Trista, even if it wasn't his fault. Besides, maybe this Organization XIII could help him, make him whole…if he played his cards right._

_The woman frowned. "Hmph. How boring." She tossed him the cloak._

_He quickly threw it on, and attempted to speak casually. "So what exactly does this Organization do?"_

_The woman smiled mischievously. "It's going to make us whole again._

_He allowed himself a slight smirk. Maybe this Organization wasn't quite so bad after all._

---

Asher's head was reeling. "THOSE BASTARDS!"

---

_Axel stood leaning against a wall. The twilight of the stars shined enough to reveal his striking orange hair and the piercing greenness of his eyes. "Does Roxas know about this?"_

_Xanthas chuckled remorsefully. "Let's be serious here. The others don't even know I exist."_

"_Of course they don't. You don't exist."_

"_Hilarous. But seriously…"_

_Axel's face contorted into a frown. "Listen to me. Don't leave. If you do…I'll be forced to come after you. Maybe even Xemnas himself will."_

"_Right," Xanthas said sarcastically. "Except that I'm not that important."_

"_You're more important to Xemnas' plans than you think."_

"_I doubt that."_

"_Wake UP! He came after you to recruit you HIMSELF. I'd say that makes you at least as important as Xigbar."_

"_Yes, because we all STRIVE to be as important as Xigbar," Xanthas rolled his eyes._

"_You can use his little toy. That's pretty important, I'd say."_

"_Maybe."_

"_Come on, let's go back."_

"_You can go back, but I'm not. The Organization's not including me. Screw 'em."_

"_You can't turn your back on the Organization!"_

"_Why not? The Organization's turned its back on me. The way I see it, there's no room for a fourteenth member of Organization XIII."_

"_That's not…"_

"_I'm no better than one of Xemnas' damned Dusks to them and you know it."_

"_Fine. If that's the way you feel, Roxas and I will have to bring you down."_

_Xanthas laughed. "Roxas? He'll be the next to go, I think. He's too strongly tied to the Keyblade. Eventually, he'll have to go back to Sora…wherever he is."_

"_He's not a schemer like Zexion."_

"_Maybe not, but he is an honest person. And honest people do honest things. Besides, with Sora still alive, as Xemnas believes he is, it's Roxas out of all of us with the best chance of being whole again. It's a hell of a lot to just walk away from, Axel."_

"_Xanthas…"_

"_Do me a favor, Axel. Forget I exist. Forget any of this ever happened. And if I find a way to make you whole again and Xemnas doesn't…I'll be sure to let you know."_

_Axel was about to attack, but then had a change of heart. "Is that really what you're gonna do?"_

"_Sure. I'm looking to be whole, and it wouldn't be too much of a hassle to find a way to help you, too."_

_Axel turned around. "You know what? You just might be the one to do that, too, Xanthas. Tell you what: I'll do it. Just…make yourself disappear. If you're not around, I can just tell Xemnas I eliminated you. Then nobody has any problems."_

"_Thanks, Axel. You're the best."_

_Axel's head cocked back toward Xanthas. He had a half smile, half scowl on his face. "Just remember, kid. I'm taking a risk here. You'd better pull through for me."_

"_Of course."_

"_After all, that's what friends are for, right?"_

_Xanthas chuckled. "We both know Roxas is your only friend. No one wants to be my friend."_

_Axel smirked. "That's because you don't have a pleasurable personality. You should be nicer to people."_

"_I'll have to remember that."_

"_See you around, Xanthas."_

"_No," Xanthas said as a portal to darkness appeared before him, "you won't."_

_He stepped into the portal, and Axel walked away. Axel snuck a quick look back at the portal as it disappeared. "I'm counting on you, Xanthas." He walked away solemnly._

_Only a few days later, Axel and Xanthas met again, despite Xanthas' statement. "It didn't work. He knows."_

"_So I guess you're going to kill me now, Axel?"_

"_Nah," said Axel, smirking. "I convinced him sending me would be a waste of time. That Demyx would be more than enough to handle you."_

_Xanthas smiled. He knew what that meant. Demyx was okay as a fighter, but he had no spine. "Thanks."_

"_Don't mention it."_

"_Really, I…"_

"_No, I mean it. Don't mention it."_

---

When Asher came to, he found himself lying on the cold floor of the Gummi Ship. His head was bandaged, and the blood was cleaned up except for a stain where he lay. Star was standing over him, smiling. "Good to see you're all right."

Asher moaned. "That depends on your definition of 'all right'. So…where are we?"

"We're still between worlds. The computer says we're headed for some place called 'Castle Oblivion'."

Asher frowned. "Oh, no."

"Have you been to Castle Oblivion before or something?"

"Well…Xanthas has, so I guess I have. I remember it." Would Remnant have returned to the castle? "It's where the Organization used to be."

"Why did they chase you? They couldn't accept your refusal to join?"

"Not exactly. I used to be a member."

"But then you left?"

"Exactly. They didn't like that."

"But isn't the Organization gone now?"

"Yeah." Asher frowned. He was still afraid. He was afraid he might wind up in the Hall of Rememberance. Even Sora had trouble in the Hall.


	36. Chapter 35

Before I begin, I'd like to extend both an apology and explanation to my fantastic readers. As you may be able to tell, I've been inactive for quite some time. Because of recent events, one of which had included a kidney stone and hospital stay, I haven't gotten much writing done. As for non-hospital related issues, I'm sure you're all familiar with the hassle of balancing school, a job, and a relationship. I do apologize for the lack of new chapters, and I'm attempting to write more often now. Please excuse the infrequency of my posts, and try to enjoy this chapter, if you think it's any good.

----------------------------------------

Asher looked remorsefully at the stars as the Gummi Ship approached Castle Oblivion and the World That Never Was. Odd name, that. It was certainly there…wasn't it?

"What's wrong, Asher?"

"I don't know, Star. It's just…have you ever felt like there might be no point to it all? Like we're just here for as long as we are, and in the end that doesn't make any difference?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes the world seems like too much, and you feel like it might be easier to give up and let it take you."

"I'd like to think we make a difference in the world. I'd like to think that we mean something in the grand scheme of things. I'd like to think there's something more; that even when we leave this world, that we're still somewhere."

"Yeah. It's always more comforting to think like that."

"But where IS that somewhere, Star? We can't see it from here. We're in our world, and those who are gone are in theirs, and there's nothing between. We can't know what it's like, and that's not a pleasant thought."

"I don't really know, Asher. Maybe the other side is what these Heartless are all about. Maybe the other side is darkness."

"I'd hate to think there wasn't anything in the end. I'd hate to think that there really WAS an end."

"Maybe there's not. Maybe the darkness isn't an end. Maybe the darkness isn't cold and unforgiving. The darkness might be warm and pleasant. Inviting to someone after the cold grip of life begins to fade."

"Maybe. I don't know. But if there's light, and that's life, and dark is for after life…where is nothing?"

"Hm?"

"There are Nobodies. Beings that don't truly exist. The World That Never Was. Things that aren't there. And not just those things. Thoughts. Imagined instances and creatures and people. Where's there place? If there's something for life and the afterlife…where does nothing go?"

"I think I get what you're saying. I don't know the answer. People say that nothing doesn't really exist. That it's the absence of something. But that doesn't quite make sense, does it? Think about it, we define real things by what we can see, what we experience. If someone is hallucinating about something, even if another person can't see what they're seeing, it's real, no matter how imagined it is. It's real to them. Maybe nothing's the same way. Maybe people don't like to think of nothing really EXISTING, so they run from it like they run from the dark. But look out into space. What do you see? Stars. That's something. Darkness. That's something too. But…it's also nothing.

"When you get right down to it," Star said, sighing and resting her elbows on the small windowsill-like metal plateau beneath the window, "nothing's there. You CAN see it. In times of pain, you can FEEL nothing. If you're deaf, or deafened, you HEAR nothing. You can even SMELL nothing, if odors are removed from the air you're breathing. If you can feel it, if you can hear it, if you can smell it…isn't it there?"

It might have been obvious to someone else to attempt to say something about how you don't really 'see' nothing, and that you actually don't see anything. It wasn't obvious to Asher, because he was thinking more deeply than someone who might have thought of that answer. He was thinking too deeply, for he didn't have an answer. None at all. Only a question. "What's it all worth in the end, Star? What's the point?"

Star smiled at him. "I think, in the end, it's all about the little things, Asher. We've been given life, something complex and precious and fragile. We should enjoy it. We should LIVE life, because that's life's purpose. I think that, even if there's some divine purpose to life, what's important to remember about it is that it's to be lived."

Asher smiled, but it wasn't exactly a happy smile. It was a smile of one who had thought of those things before, of one who long ago decided what he wanted out of life. It was a weak grin, formed from a fragile joy, out of a small hope of living how one wanted. It was a gentle, world-weary smile that Star hoped she'd never see again. It frightened her. It also made her uneasily sad. Something about him seemed to emanate off, affecting those around him, like an echo resonating through the heart of anyone willing to listen.

"You miss Trista, don't you?"

Her words were met with the same world-weary smile. "Very much."

A particularly grim-looking woman stared into a ball made of crystal, which was being held up by a claw-shaped piece of stone in a main room of Castle Oblivion. "They're coming, Pete. They want to destroy our Heartless and dismantle the castle. And after all our hard work."

She shook her head, _tsk_ing. Pete, the strange, overweight, catlike humanoid wearing an outfit that looked like a British flag, knew better than to interrupt.

"We can't have that. Besides, who have we hurt, Pete? Who? I've taken this castle as my own, and I've been content. I've not harmed anyone. If Sora and King Mickey never thought to remove me as this castle's ruler, why should these…these…"

"Runts?"

"UPSTARTS?! Foul, despicable, the both of them. No better than children. Older than Sora, to be sure, but even less wise than that fool was! Brandishing their little Keyblades as if they were invincible. As if they were the bringers of justice to these worlds. How little they know. What is justice, anyway, Pete?"

"Well, I think—" Maleficent cut him off.

"That was a RHETORICAL question, Pete."

Pete's ears drooped and his cheek fat sagged in disappointment. His low voice bubbled as he groaned and managed to work out an apology for lacking that knowledge. "Sorry. I just didn't know, is all. Ask a man a question, normally, you 'spect an answer."

Maleficent's horned, grey skinned head turned toward Pete, her scowl showing without hesitation that she, for this moment at least, disliked him with the utmost intensity. And rightfully so, this despicable creature never saw fit to completely cut his ties from her. The more tightly she squeezed his plump, spineless neck, the more he groveled and begged for forgiveness. It got her nowhere with getting rid of him, and, more importantly, it made her sick. "Stop your grumbling, you pathetic fool, and see to it that our…guests will be properly entertained."

She had no intention of killing the children, of course, or turning them into Heartless. But, misguided fools such as these should be educated as to the proper order of things.

Asher sighed. "Well, looks like we're here. At least the ship set us down right outside the castle. I didn't want to have to work my way through this place."

Star looked back through the dark alleyway, surrounded on all sides by buildings of unimaginable size, dead ends, and branching alleys. "That's for sure."

Castle Oblivion certainly was interesting to look at. A huge, white, medieval-style castle it was, as if it had come straight from a children's fairy tale book. On the front of the castle was the insignia of the Nobodies: a heart that sat atop a cross. Asher never really knew what that meant, and neither had Xanthas. The castle floated gracefully above a seemingly infinite abyss, a hole, void of all things, even darkness, as it seemed. A bridge to the castle was visible in the twilight. It appeared to be made of crystal, and Asher stepped on it cautiously. Crystal was, of course, glass, and glass could sometimes be notorious for not being able to hold one's weight. When he was sure it was safe to cross, he motioned to Star to follow him. "C'mon, let's go. The sooner we get out of this place, the better."

Star nodded, and the two walked across the bridge and entered the castle. The interior of the castle was like an alien world to the two of them, more alien even than anything else they'd seen in their journeys. The floor seemed to be made of metal fused with glass, and it wasn't even close to possible to ascertain what the walls were made of. They were white, but that was all the two could figure. Perhaps—after all, this castle was once the home of a notorious group of Nobodies—the walls were simply made of NOTHING, brought into this world where nothing could be a physical thing, pulling and twisting at the minds of those who couldn't possibly understand. After moving through what seemed to be an endless series of strangely quiet rooms, they happened upon a room where an arena hung from the floor.

Star looked surprised. "This looks like a Pokemon Gym!"

Asher shrugged. He didn't know what a 'Pokemon Gym' was. "Hear that, Star?"

Star quieted herself, and managed to hear a faint sound. It was like music, but strangely…sad? Was sad the right word? Was there a right word to describe it?

"Can't figure out what it is? Not surprising. This…is the Hall of Empty Melodies. The depressing songs of a hundred thousand broken dreams litter this place. Every note is another hope crushed for some reason or another."

"Eerie. But, at the same time, it's kind of beautiful."

"Maybe. Let's just keep moving. There aren't any Heartless here, so…" He paused and looked up at a ledge. Standing on the ledge was a black-robed, grey-skinned woman with a slender body and a face that made her look almost malnourished. She wore a hat with two horns on the side that looked like they belonged to the devil—or maybe they were HER horns, Asher couldn't tell—and her yellow eyes seemed extremely foreboding.

She smiled slightly wickedly. "Welcome, children, to Castle Oblivion."

"Who are you?" Star asked.

"I'm Maleficent. This is my castle. Who, may I ask, are you two? What is your purpose here?"

Asher scoffed. He knew the type: arrogant, confident. She already knew who they were and why they were here; she just wanted to know if they'd lie. Well, it was best to tell the truth anyway.

"We're masters of the Keyblades. Our Gummi Ship told us that there were Heartless here, and we've come to destroy them."

Maleficent laughed. "Destroy them? How preposterous. So, what is your ultimate mission?"

"I thought that would be obvious," Asher said with equal arrogance. "We're going to eliminate all Heartless in all the worlds to bring about peace."

Another laugh, this one louder. "Boy, girl…you have much to learn. You're both young. Not as young as Sora was, when he first started his journey, but just as foolish."

"Listen, lady, don't get in our way, here. We've learned enough about the Heartless already."

"HAVE you, now? Interesting. So, then, I take it that you believe you couldn't possibly learn any more about them through this doorway?" She waved her hand toward a doorway up on the ledge behind her. A staircase appeared between themselves and the ledge.

Star smirked. "C'mon, Asher! I bet there's Heartless in there!"

Asher paused. Something about that doorway seemed familiar. He couldn't quite put his finger on it…

He and Star walked up the stairway and stopped in front of Maleficent. "So, if you think you have nothing yet to learn, then, by all means, step right through that doorway. If you truly are as WISE as you seem to believe, then you will have no problem facing the challenges ahead." Asher couldn't help but notice the disdain in the word 'wise'.

"Fine. Let's go, Asher. We'll fight those Heartless whether she thinks we can or not."

Nodding uneasily, Asher followed her into the next room. When they entered, they could see nothing but white. The door closed behind them, and they saw that they were on a white floor with a white wall behind them. However, when Asher leaned back against the wall to get a full scope of the enormity of the room, he found that it was no longer there. They were surrounded by the whiteness, but could touch none of it, save the floor. If Asher and Star weren't uneasy before, they were now. Before they could say a word, each disappeared from the other's view.

Asher found himself on a platform floating thousands of feet above a busy street. As he looked around, he saw clouds slowly drifting by. As he looked down at the street, he could see the cars like little ants, busily trekking in straight lines, stopping and going, stopping and going. Where the place was, he didn't know. However, he had a feeling he already knew what was going to happen.

He heard a voice. "Xanthas? Ah, not again!"

Asher turned around. Great, it was Demyx. He knew where he was now. "We don't have to fight, Demyx. It's Asher now, not Xanthas. You're just a memory here, brought to life by this place."

"Don't have to fight? You know, that might be a relief…if I planned to run away."

Demyx smirked and walked closer.

"It's too bad. Last time, I thought they'd sent the wrong guy. Now, I realize you're not all that tough. I was just a little…distracted. But," Demyx strung a particularly emphatic chord on his guitar, causing water to geyser out of the floor hundreds of feet into the air, "not this time, Xa—Asher. This time, you die."

Asher called on the Keyblade. He waved it in front of Demyx. "Got a new weapon now, Demyx. I'm more powerful than Xanthas was."

Demyx snuffed a slight laugh. "Too bad it won't help you," he said, lifting his guitar. He played three more chords, these ones silent, summoning four strange water images of himself. "Dance, water, dance!" he cried, and the forms burst into life.

Asher sighed and swiftly eliminated the four water doppelgangers with one swipe of his Keyblade. "You know that never works."

He then moved forward and slashed at Demyx. As the Keyblade made contact, Demyx melted into ordinary water and splashed onto the ground. Asher, alarmed, felt a slight wisp of wind pass by his ear, and brought his Keyblade around just in time to prevent Demyx from driving his guitar into Asher's throat. "That's a new trick."

Demyx smirked triumphantly. "That's nothing."

Suddenly, he melted, just like the fake Demyx before. Expecting another fake, Asher stepped forward, looking for the real Demyx. As Asher's foot splashed into the puddle of water, the puddle began to flow behind him and lift itself into the air. Before Asher could react, it had reformed as Demyx and he was caught in a strangle hold. Asher barely managed to turn his head enough to see Demyx's face, a victorious smirk poisoning his pretty-boy demeanor. His golden hair blew slightly in the artificial wind of the memory.

"Too bad you didn't stand a chance, eh, Asher?"

Asher managed to spit in his face. Demyx, disgusted, let go of Asher's neck to wipe the spittle off his face. Asher took the opportunity to wheel his right arm around, his Keyblade tucked in his body, the blade end pointing outward. As the blade entered Demyx's body, it became evident that this was the real one. There was no blood. Why would there be? Demyx was a Nobody. Instead, he slowly began to disintegrate, his body turning into darkness, finally dissipating several feet away.

"You bastard," was all he had to say before he once again faded from existence.

"Well, that was certainly anticlimactic. Is this the best my memories have to offer?"

As if in response, the scenery shifted, leaving Asher's head reeling. He found himself in the dark streets of The World That Never Was. Standing in front of him was another cloaked figure. "Riku?"

The hooded figure said nothing, only drew his weapon, the Way to Dawn. It looked slightly like Asher's Keyblade, but it was a purplish-black and very menacing. The figure attacked fiercely, nearly knocking Asher off his feet when he went to parry. Asher took a step back. A cocky, adolescent voice resonated from the figure. "What's wrong, Xanthas? I thought you wanted a challenge."

"I'm not Xanthas, I'm Asher!"

"Doesn't matter. You couldn't stop me from getting to Roxas, and you can't beat me now."

Asher gulped. Riku might be right. He shook the feeling off. No sense worrying about that now. He rotated the Keyblade in his hand so that the blade faced back toward him instead of out toward Riku, and brought it around slowly, scraping it against Riku's weapon. The metals rubbing together made an eerie clanging, scraping noise in the silence of the night. He attempted a series of strikes: one to the right shoulder from above, which Riku harmlessly sidestepped. He slashed upward toward Riku's groin, attempting to split him in two. Riku's blade caught his and flung him backward. He attempted to cut down Riku's legs, but Riku easily jumped over Asher and jabbed his elbow into Asher's back. Cursing, Asher performed a successful leg sweep, sending Riku collapsing to the ground. However, as Asher brought his Keyblade up to thrust down upon Riku, Riku jammed his sword into the ground in mid-fall, using it not only to catch himself, but to pivot around and kick Asher hard in the gut. Asher stumbled backward, half in surprise, half in pain.

Asher couldn't see Riku's face under the hood, but he was sure that Riku was smirking. "C'mon, Asher! Try to keep up!"

With that, Asher seemingly vanished into thin air. He reappeared behind Riku, landing a very hard drop-kick to Riku's head. Riku went down. "You know, I REALLY wish I knew how I did that."

"It's the blade, Asher. The Keyblade makes you powerful. Your problem is that you don't know how to use it."

Rising to his feet, Riku stepped back and did a back flip, disappearing from view. Asher looked up and saw him perched on top of an extremely tall skyscraper, taunting him. He looked at the skyscraper and instantly realized that he couldn't climb it on his own. Searching, he found another skyscraper directly next to it. Seizing the opportunity, Asher ran toward the skyscraper, jumping by kicking his foot off the building and landing with the opposite foot on the other. He kicked again. He continued to kick, each kick bringing him successively higher, until he had finally scaled the building, flying toward Riku with an almost murderous disposition. Riku jumped back, and the two found themselves locked into combat, dangerously plummeting toward the street below. Asher attempted a sequence of wild slashes, each parried expertly by Riku. It was like Riku wasn't even trying. With a final parry, Riku tilted back his head—his body following suit—and flung Asher over himself, causing Asher to slam into a neighboring building with enough force to break bones. The cracking sound that followed wasn't pleasant, but Asher was lucky. The building's masonry might have been damaged, but his body was still in fighting shape. However, the shock of the impact temporarily inhibited Asher's mobility, and he began to fall again. Riku landed expertly on his feet in an almost catlike manner. Asher plummeted face-first, his head slamming into the asphalt.

"Feeling the pressure yet?"

Asher amazingly got to his feet. Apparently his body could take much more of a pummeling in this memory-room. He wasn't so sure that was a good thing. "I'm fine. What about you? Getting tired yet?"

"Nope. Not even close."

"Fine, then," Asher said boldly. "If I can't tire you out, I'll just kill you!"

He charged at Riku, who didn't even bother to parry Asher's attack. He simply grabbed Asher's Keyblade by the hilt and kneed him in the gut. "What makes you think you can?"

Asher took a swing at Riku with his free hand, but Riku grabbed it. He drove his knee into Asher's abdomen again, with more force. Almost delighted with Asher's pain, Riku continued to attack until Asher almost felt like he'd been disemboweled. A final thrust caused Asher to choke and collapse into his own arms as Riku let go of him. As Asher caught himself, he looked up, barely able to see the outline of Riku's face under his hood. "That's right," Riku smirked. "Down on your knees and beg for mercy."

"You son of a bitch," Asher gasped.

Riku raised his blade, and Asher expected him to bring it down on him with full force. Asher closed his eyes, waiting for the moment that the dream—and perhaps his life—would end. But the moment never came. After a few seconds, Asher opened his eyes to see Riku with his back turned, walking away. "Come back here, Riku!" screamed Asher in confusion. "Come back here and fight!"

Riku paused and shook his head. "Fool. You lost."

He walked away, disappearing into the shadows. Asher got up, trying to figure out where Riku went. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice. "Well, Asher…That fight," the person said, apparently trying to hold back laughter, "was a bit less than impressive."

"I suppose you're going to fight me, too, Axel?"

"Aw, c'mon, I thought you'd know me better than that! Sure, I knew you as Xanthas, but you're basically the same guy, right?"

"So why are you here?"

"You didn't keep your promise, Asher."

"What promise?"

"The promise Xanthas made to me."

"Oh, that promise."

"Yeah, Asher. THAT promise."

Asher sighed. "It's not as easy as you think, finding a way out of being a Nobody. I was lucky. I found my heart. I…I don't know where yours is."

"Don't be stupid. Of course you do. It's where everyone's heart is."

"But how do you expect me to get it back to you?"

"It doesn't matter."

"What do you mean, it doesn't matter?"

"I mean, I'm gone. I don't exist anymore. Not just as a Nobody, I was destroyed. Faded back into darkness."

Asher frowned. "I knew the Organization was defeated, but I never heard you died...but…how do you know? You're just a memory."

"I know, it's weird, isn't it? Seems like if you're gone, you're not really gone, y'know? People always talk about people living on in someone's memories…well, I guess this is the literal interpretation. I remember the last moments of my life. I gave it for Sora…for Roxas. I just wanted to see him again."

"So why live on in MY memories?"

Axel laughed. "If only I knew. Doesn't matter, though. Looks like YOU'RE stuck with me, kid."

"Axel, I'm sorry…I really would have gotten you your heart back…"

"Well, it's a little late for that, now, isn't it?"

Asher hung his head.

"Well, what do you expect? It looked like only a few SELECT Nobodies actually got to become somebodies again. I just didn't quite make the cut, I guess."

"Well…maybe there's still a way. Maybe if I can find your heart, and get it back…"

"A noble sentiment, Asher, but I don't think I'll expect you to carry it out. As…trustworthy as you are, you don't always seem to get the job done, if you catch my drift. Anyway, I didn't meet you here in this interesting little dream world to chew you out for not keeping a promise."

"You…didn't? Then why are you here?"

"I'm here to give you a little…Keyblade ethics lesson. Kind of the opposite our pals in the Organization gave to Sora. See, they tried to throw Sora into confusion, because they were using Heartless to capture hearts. When a Heartless is destroyed, the heart can become a part of Kingdom Hearts, or, in Xemnas' case, his artificial Kingdom Hearts. Kingdom Hearts is made of light. However, it's also made of darkness. There is darkness within the light, just as there is light within the darkness. Being Keyblade Master is about keeping BALANCE between the worlds of light and darkness."

"By destroying the Heartless."

"NO! Destroying Heartless isn't enough, and it shouldn't always be done. Heartless are dark, as people are light. They define each other. One can't exist without the other." He tapped his head, pointing to his brain. "Got it memorized?"

"So, if I just keep destroying Heartless…"

"More people will begin to lose their hearts to create more Heartless to balance the loss of darkness."

"And if I don't destroy Heartless?"

"Then the Heartless will take away other people's hearts, also turning them into Heartless."

Asher shook his head. "Then I can't win."

Axel smiled. "Not in any conventional way."


	37. Chapter 36

"So, what do I do, Axel? I can't destroy ALL the Heartless because it causes imbalance. But then I can't leave the Heartless alone because they'll cause an imbalance by stealing more hearts!"

"Quite a predicament, huh? It's a shame you don't know someone with more knowledge about darkness. Someone with orange hair, a slightly cocky attitude, and IRRESISTABLE looks."

Asher rolled his eyes. "Vanity is Demyx's thing, Axel, not yours."

Axel laughed. "True, true. Anyway, we're getting off track. So, you're sure you wanna learn about this, Asher? I mean, it would be just as easy to destroy almost all the Heartless now and leave the cleanup to the NEXT Keyblade Masters."

"No, Axel. This ends here."

Axel smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that."

"And once the worlds of dark and light are back into balance, I'll get you back your body, mind, soul, and heart."

Axel adopted a sarcastic tone. "So, you really do care about me, don't you, Asher?" He raised his voice. "I'm SO FLATTERED! But you're too late! I'm as good as dead; once I've helped you, it's off into darkness I go."

Asher decided to press the subject. "It was too late for one friend, but not for you, Axel. He was gone, completely gone. But you're right here, right in front of me. You're more than just a memory—you're a living, breathing representation of yourself, trapped in my memories. You remember things about yourself that I never knew. Were you just a memory, you'd only know what I knew about you. The simple fact that you're self-aware means that you're still in a position to be saved."

Axel sighed. "You can't save everyone, Asher. Sooner or later a few of the people you try to help will end up falling through the cracks. Sure, you can try. But in the end, if the situation looks hopeless for someone," he said, frowning and looking blankly at the ground, "then it probably is."

"Axel, it can be done."

Axel shook his head. "Maybe. But you know as well as I do what it would take."

"I'm willing to take that risk, Axel."

"No, Asher. You've got the WORLDS to think about, remember? And your precious…what was her name? Trista?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, you got your girlfriend to worry about. Don't waste your time on me."

"I made a PROMISE, Axel."

"Promises, commitments. Hmph. I made my career in the Organization to root out troublemakers that broke their commitments. In fact, I violated my own because of a little…change of heart. Figuratively speaking, of course. A promise is worth only as much as how easy it is to keep. Yours wasn't easy to keep, and you didn't. In the end, it didn't matter anyway."

"I'm going to help you whether you want it or not, Axel. I've already lost one friend, and I'm not about to lose another."

"You do what you like, but just remember what's important."

"I KNOW what's important, Axel. Besides, what you imply that I'd need to restore your life? I have more than a hunch it's what I need to restore balance to the worlds, too."

"Really, now? And what would that thing be?"

"I'd say it's pretty obvious that it's Kingdom Hearts."

"Well, bravo. A point for you, then. But consider this…which one?"

"Huh?"

"Well? Think about it. There are currently TWO Kingdom Hearts. One….the original. Two….Xemnas' Kingdom Hearts, which had that nice chunk blown off it, from what I can tell from your memories of accounts of Sora's battle. So you have two choices, and you don't know which one would even work. You can try the incomplete one….or the one you don't know how to get to. Which sounds better to you?"

"I know how to get to the original."

Axel snuffed. "I don't think Remnant will be that easy to find, now. If he's REALLY Xemnas, he won't be stupid enough to follow you around now that you're human again, especially with you carrying that Keyblade."

"Maybe he won't look for me, but I'll look for him. Someone that powerful looking for Nobodies to absorb for more power? Someone with a mind as maniacal as Xemnas'? He'll leave a nice, obvious trail is my guess."

Axel smiled. "Probably right. Another point for you, then."

"I think it'd be best to go for the original first, then. That way, if it's a bust, I can still kill Remnant."

"Damn, Asher. You're on fire here." Axel snapped his forefinger, middle finger, and thumb in order to create a small flame that flickered for a short duration above his hand.

"Don't patronize me, Axel."

"Fine, whatever you say. Anyway, Asher…HOW exactly do you plan on using Kingdom Hearts to create balance between the worlds?"

"I don't quite know yet. But, I'll think of something."

"So you're just gonna rush in headfirst without a plan? Asher, Asher, Asher. That's what got Sora in such trouble, remember? It's how he ended up in Castle Oblivion. Or…perhaps you've forgotten YOUR battle with him?"

---

_Xanthas took a step back. Was he really stupid enough to think he could beat the Keyblade Master? Of course not. But Xemnas was the boss, for now. If Xemnas said to fight Sora, then he'd fight Sora. He didn't even WANT to kill Sora, actually. Sora was fighting for his friends…and for something else. Xanthas could tell. This kid in front of him—because, that's what he was, nothing more than a child, even to Xanthas—had something else on the line besides friendship. "What do you say we end this right here, Sora? We can even say you win. There's really no need to continue anyway."_

_But Sora was determined. "No! I won't let your Organization do whatever it's planning to do!"_

_Xanthas sighed. "Kid, the Organization will do whatever it wants, with or without me. I'm just a lackey here."_

_"I don't care! You won't get away that easy!"_

_Again, Xanthas sighed. The kid wasn't getting it. He had to admire his spirit, but definitely not his intellect. Xanthas was only Sora's first battle. A test. Once Xanthas was done with Sora…well, he didn't quite know. Marluxia hadn't told him that much about the plan. In fact…did Marluxia even say the plan was given by Xemnas in the first place? He shook his head. No sense thinking about that. Xemnas knew what he was doing, and if Marluxia didn't want to say that Xemnas made up the plan, it was probably because Xemnas didn't want his name to do something strange, like trigger back some of the memories that Sora lost while entering the Castle. But still…_

_"What's wrong? Scared of a little kid with a Keyblade?"_

_If Xanthas had had the ability, he would have gotten very angry at that remark. It almost seemed like a crack at Roxas. Roxas…what was going to happen if HE met Sora? Was he in the Castle? Did Xemnas have him out of the Castle temporarily, off on some sort of mission? "Kid, I'm gonna make you regret that."_

_Sora smirked and held out a card. Strange. He'd been fighting the whole battle with cards. Why was…Xanthas froze. When Marluxia was explaining the plan to get Sora, he had cards in his hands. Cards that belonged to Luxord. Luxord would never lend Marluxia his cards. Xemnas knew better than to command the Organization to swap weapons around, too. "Where did you get those cards?"_

_"Huh? Oh, these cards. Someone else from your Organization gave 'em to me."_

_Suddenly, Xanthas knew. Sora had no idea what he was in the middle of. "I see. Well, it's been fun, kid, but I really must be going. So long."_

_Xanthas disappeared through a dark portal. In the darkness, he searched for a moment. "Axel?"_

_"Xanthas…what is it? I'm looking for Roxas."_

_"We've got a problem. Sora's in the Castle."_

_"I know."_

_"It wasn't a part of Xemnas' plans!"_

_"I know."_

_"But…Marluxia is…"_

_"I KNOW, Xanthas. I already know. If you must know, I'm a part of it, too."_

_"You're going to overthrow the Organization? You?"_

_"No, don't be stupid. But if I infiltrate them…"_

_"Then you'll bring them down from the inside?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"Did you know about them using me to test him?"_

_"Yes. Actually, I suggested it."_

_Xanthas fought back a grunt of displeasure. "So are you going to kill me for cooperating with them?"_

_Axel smiled. "Nah, of course not. I chose you because you're the only one here besides Roxas that I could trust not to join them after he figured it out."_

_"So…Xemnas still hasn't given me a mission?"_

_"Nope. Sorry."_

_"I'm beginning to think he never will."_

_"Oh, he will. He'll have to make his promise to you worth HIS while, too."_

_With that, Axel vanished in search of Roxas again._

---

"No, Axel, I haven't forgotten. But what does that have to do with my lack of a plan?"

"Obviously the battle itself doesn't have much to do with it at all. But you remember Sora, right?"

"Yeah. Poor bastard just kept charging forward. He had no idea what he was getting himself into."

"Exactly."

"I'm not like Sora."

"Maybe you WEREN'T, but you sure sound like it now. 'Look at me, I'm Asher, and I'm gonna find Kingdom Hearts and bring people back from an infinite abyss!' If you ask me," Axel said, touching his hands to his chest for emphasis, "you're not any more ready for the responsibility of being a Keyblade Master than Sora. And your little friend Star, well…she's cute, but that's about all. Even worse than you, actually. She's a little show-off. Honestly, you might end up a Heartless, but her…she'll end up dead. Just like your other friend."

"Shut up, Axel."

"Ooooooh," Axel mocked, the word turning into a chuckle. "Looks like I've struck a chord. What's the matter? Still can't accept the fact that he's gone?"

"SHUT UP, AXEL!"

"Hm. Like I said, you're not ready. Keyblade Masters…they lose things, and people. Comes with the territory. You shouldn't pick up that nifty little blade unless you're prepared to sacrifice someone else for the 'greater good'. Not that it really IS good, you know? What is GOOD, anyway? Good, evil…they're just…words."

"Spare me the philosophy, Axel. I'm ready to be a Keyblade Master. I wouldn't HAVE a Keyblade if I wasn't ready."

"Still as clueless as ever."

"What do you mean by that?" Asher demanded.

"Ah, so you DIDN'T ever figure it out."

"Figure what out?"

Axel smirked. "The reason Xemnas wanted you to be a part of the Organization so badly. The reason he kept you secret from the outside. The reason you were never given a mission."

"It was about getting the Nothing Blade back, I thought."

Axel laughed. "No. He didn't want it back. He was looking for someone that could use it. It takes a powerful Nobody to use it right. A powerful Nobody means a powerful Other. A powerful full, complete being. Xemnas was worried that Sora might not have been able to perform the tasks we gave him, or that he might refuse. So, he made a backup plan. He looked for another person that could use the Keyblade. But he couldn't risk allowing a person he was trying to corrupt to get a Keyblade, or else he might end up in over his head. So, he did the next best thing. He had some Heartless go around and steal people's hearts, but, instead of giving them to the darkness, they gave the hearts to him for safekeeping. Then, he'd visit the victims and purposely lost his Nothing Blade to them. If they worked it, they were strong enough to use the Keyblade when whole. If they didn't, they were discarded. You were the lucky one, Asher. You could use it."

"So, what was he going to do to me if Sora didn't cooperate?" Asher asked, fighting back anger.

"Simple. He'd have you agree to help him if he gave you your heart back. He just felt he wouldn't mention that he knew where your heart was until he was sure of your loyalty and the fact that you were needed."

"So I wasn't really useful after all? I was just some sort of insurance policy?"

"What, with the way he treated the rest of us, you were surprised? None of us were really important to him in the end. We all knew. But we all figured he would supply us with Kingdom Hearts, and Kingdom Hearts would supply us with our hearts and make us whole again. Hard to argue against that."

"True."

Axel laughed remorsefully. "In retrospect, I guess the only one of us that really had any chance of getting his heart back was YOU, Asher. Xemnas probably never planned to help us at all."

"I've had enough of this little chat, Axel. Do you want my help to make you whole again, or not? Because I made a promise, and I wanna make good on it."

"Hardheaded AND noble. What an annoying combination. Well, if that's all you want to talk about, I guess I should just let you get to work."

"You can ditch the tough-guy act, Axel."

Axel looked down at the ground. "Just…be careful, okay?"

"You don't have to worry about me. By the way, when you're back…you'll want to find Sora, right? To talk to Roxas?"

That raised Axel's head. He was smiling. "Why? You know where to find him?"

Asher nodded. "Yeah. Word is Sora's living in Tempest Town now, running an inn with his two friends. My hometown."

Axel was still smiling. Maybe everything would turn out alright after all.

---

Star was kneeling, gasping for breath. "Dad?"

Xander shook his head. "Star, you're relying too much on your own skills. You have Pokemon, don't you? USE them!"

Star knew this was just an illusion, a thought brought to life. Still, her muscles ached. There's a lesson here, she thought to herself. Just remember, there's a lesson here.

She pulled Arcanine's Pokeball off her belt and summoned him. Arcanine pounced toward Xander, who simply sidestepped and drove two fingers into the side of Arcanine's neck, just above the shoulder. Howling, Arcanine fell to the ground. Frustrated, she reached for Milotic's Pokeball, but fumbled. Her hand passed the part of her belt that housed Milotic's Pokeball, and brushed over the top of Onix's. Not realizing her mistake, she grasped the next ball she felt and tossed it into the air. Misdreavus emerged from the ball. "Miiis?"

She froze. Misdreavus…that was Brandon's Pokemon.

Xander smiled. "A ghost type…good choice. Now, have it attack me. Let's see if you can beat me."

Star's feet were glued to the floor, her eyes glued to the confused-looking purple ghost. Misdreavus spoke, its voice riddled with concern. "Mis…mismis…Dreavus?"

Somehow, Star knew what it was saying. _Where's Brandon? What's going on?_

The Xander doppelganger disappeared, leaving Star alone to confront Misdreavus on the dark, barren, rocky plain. The light breeze caused her hair to flow gently above her shoulders. The smell of salt and the deep grey color of the rocks indicated that there was an ocean nearby. With the full moon rising in the background, its reflected rays showing dozens of hidden colors in gemstones among the rocks, the scene had a certain eerie beauty. But, Star didn't notice any of that. Her eyes were still fixed on the floating Pokemon, its questioning gaze tearing through her heart like a newly forged katana. _Star, where is Brandon?_ she knew it was saying. _Just tell me where he is._

She choked on her words as she spoke. "Misdreavus…Brandon's dead."

She heard Misdreavus' distraught cries, but also an echo of a voice. It was a voice she'd never heard before: a personless, empty one. _What do you mean, dead? That's impossible._

"I'm sorry, Misdreavus…he's gone."

More panicked utterances. _Gone? He can't be gone. This is all just some sort of bad dream, that's it. I'll wake up tomorrow and he'll be right there, calling me to battle in some gym to win some badge. That's the life of a Pokemon, you know._

Star broke down. "Misdreavus, he's DEAD! Don't you get it? D-E-A-D: dead. He's not coming back."

Misdreavus' voice was angry now, but the English voice remained the same. _How could you let this happen? Weren't you two supposed to look out for one another? What were you thinking?_

"Misdreavus, I…"

Even the echo became enraged. _HOW COULD YOU LET HIM DIE!?_

With that, Misdreavus vanished. On her knees, weeping, Star felt a hand lightly press itself onto her shoulder. It was her father again. "I know you feel partially responsible, sweetheart. I know it's tough. But you can't blame yourself any more than your friend tried to blame himself. These things happen."

"But Dad, WHY did it happen?"

The figure of Xander looked solemnly at her. "I don't know. I'm just a personification of something from your consciousness."

That was her father. Even when he wasn't real, he wouldn't give her a euphemistic run-around. She frowned.

As if in response, Xander sighed. "The truth is, I don't think we can know why people go away like Brandon did, honey. Maybe it's some higher power, bringing them back to their beginnings. Maybe dying is kinda like going home. But, you can't let the thought control you, Star. You can't let yourself shut down, or break down. You know, you'll have to answer that question again. Brandon's parents will ask. His friends will, too. You're going to have to be strong. You're going to have to answer."

"I just feel so helpless."

"I know, Star. I know."

The Xander doppelganger held Star in his arms as she cried, one hand running through her hair. He frowned. A solidified memory was no replacement for a real father.


	38. Chapter 37

Maleficent smirked. "Do you think they'd have learned their lesson by now, Pete?"

Pete held up a finger to voice his opinion. "Well, I think—"

Maleficent sighed, massaging her forehead as if she had a headache. "Once again, that was a RHETORICAL QUESTION, Pete."

Pete groaned and walked away, mumbling something about "When I was a steamboat captain I used to get RESPECT."

Maleficent shook her head. _This fool is going to be the death of me._

She waved her hands, summoning the doorway that had led the two intruders to the Hall of Remembrance. Asher was the first to step out into the room, looking shaken and tired, but still standing. A few seconds later, Star emerged. However, she looked to be in much worse shape. She collapsed to her knees through the doorway, her head in her hands, trying to hide the tears that caused the light application of eyeshadow on her to run down her face like scattered drops from a black rainstorm splattering against a window.

Maleficent showed a bit of surprise in her eyes. She had expected a bit of a reaction, like with the boy, but nothing like this. Obviously, whatever the girl had learned in the Hall, it hadn't been what Maleficent had intended her to learn. What was Maleficent to do? She certainly couldn't admit error, or else the boy might assume that the lesson was naught but propaganda.

To Maleficent's relief, though, the boy rushed to peel the pitiful girl from the floor. "What happened, Star? Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Her glossy, tear-filled eyes pierced into Asher's soul. "How am I going to tell them?"

"Tell who? Tell them what?"

Star sniffled. "Brandon's parents! His family! How am I going to tell them he's dead?"

Maleficent flinched. This did not bode well. The girl had obviously not even considered the truth about the Heartless. More than likely, the boy had, but if one of the Keybladers continued to err, the worlds would continue to be out of balance. Maleficent did not care for balance for balance's sake, but she knew that balance was required for a peaceful coexistence of light and dark. With her own castle, she'd met her own ends, and peaceful coexistence would ensure that she was secure in her holdings.

Asher frowned. "It'll be okay, Star. You can do it. I'll go with you, if you want. I can tell them for you…"

Star shook her head violently in protest. "No, Asher, you can't. I have to do it. I just…I don't know if I can take it. I don't know if I'm strong enough."

"I'm sure you are."

Star smiled through her tears. "You think?"

"Sure! You can wield a Keyblade, I'm sure you can handle being the bearer of bad news."

"I…"

"Listen, let's not worry about that right now, okay? We can think about it when the time comes, and we'll figure something out. For now, the important thing is to restore balance to the worlds."

Maleficent raised an eyebrow. So, the boy had learned something. Good.

"Right," Star said through more sniffling. "Let's get to destroying the Heartless here, then."

Maleficent sighed. _I suppose it's best if I simply come out and say it. It will ease the girl's suffering…and mine._

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Star looked up at Maleficent, her tears beginning to dry. "What do you mean?"

"You plan to destroy all the Heartless in all the worlds?"

"Of course! How do you think I could bring the worlds back into balance."

Asher shook his head slightly, knowing what was coming.

Maleficent scoffed. "You're a fool, girl. You can't bring balance to the worlds by destroying all the Heartless in existence. Do you even know what balance is?"

Star placed her hands on her hips defiantly. "Of course I know what balance is! It's what we'll have once I've fought back the darkness and brought light to all the worlds!"

Asher stepped back. He wasn't an idiot. He knew the witch was getting angry.

"Imbecile! That's not what balance is at all!"

Star shouted back. "Oh, yeah? Well, then what IS balance?"

Maleficent sighed, keeping her anger in check. After all, Star was only a child. "Try to imagine a scale."

"Okay…"

"Now, on a scale, you have two ends, and each end contains an item. Now, imagine a line between the two items. When the two items are of unequal mass, the line is tilted slightly. When the items are of equal mass, the line is horizontal and the scale is balanced."

"So?"

"So, imagine the state of the worlds as a sort of scale, with darkness on one end, and light on the other. If there is too much darkness, the weight of the darkness over the weight of the light brings the scale out of balance. If too much darkness is removed, the scale is also unbalanced, this time in the favor of the light."

"But isn't that a good thing?"

Maleficent fought back another scoff. Even though she was only a girl, Star seemed just as incompetent as Pete. "No. The key to peaceful life is balance. There must be an equal amount of both darkness and light on the scale, so that it is balanced."

"I see."

Failing to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, Maleficent asked Star, "So, I suppose you don't believe me?"

Surprisingly, Star didn't make any affirmative or negative gestures. "What you're saying is that the worlds must have an equal amount of darkness and light…but if anyone has any darkness in their hearts, they become a Heartless."

Maleficent laughed. "Of course not. That's a common misconception. The only reason that a trivial amount of darkness would cause someone to become a Heartless is if there were someone influencing the change. If not, the darkness would simply coexist in the person's heart, along with the light within. Those that turn into Heartless are those who do not just embrace darkness, but allow it to control them. All have within their hearts a power to resist dark temptations, just as all have the power to resist temptations associated with the light."

"But…Asher turned into a Heartless…or a Nobody, or whatever. He's got a pretty strong heart."

"As I said, someone else can influence a change. From my understanding, Asher's change was initiated by Xemnas himself, and a strong force like the one that Xemnas would have conjured would certainly have been enough to overpower almost anyone."

"So…what do I do?"

Maleficent sighed. _Must I hold her HAND, as well? _"Destroy the SOURCE of the imbalance," she stated matter-of-factly and impatiently.

"Which would be?"

This time, Maleficent's impatience got the best of her. "I don't know. Figure it out for yourself."

With that, Maleficent disappeared down a nearby corridor.

"Such a nice woman," Asher stated drily.

"So…what are we gonna do now?"

Asher looked around thoughtfully. "I think this place is fine the way it is. The weird lady's right. We need to find the source of the problem."

"What do you think the source is?"

"My guess is Remnant."

"So, how do we find him?" Star asked.

Asher shook his head. "It'd be nearly impossible to find him. He'd have to find us."

Star looked puzzled. "But…how do we make him find us?"

Asher smirked. "If Remnant's the source of the problem, then that means he's the source of the Heartless. He's expecting us to destroy them to create balance. So, we just…don't do our jobs."

"But, how will he know where we are if we're not doing anything?"

"Ah," said Asher, holding out an arm as if he was calling to something. "That's where we get to the fun part."

As a Heartless appeared at his side, much to Star's surprise, Axel decided to add his own bit of spice to the situation, even from his position inside Asher's consciousness.

As Asher heard Axel's words in his head, he repeated them with a twinge of arrogance. "As an acquaintance of mine, Saïx, used to say, 'The Heartless ally with who's the strongest.'"

Star frowned. "Asher, I don't know…it doesn't seem right."

Asher's face softened. "C'mon, Star. Please?"

He made a slight motion with his hand, and the Heartless stared up at Star like a hurt puppy. Somehow, under Asher's control, the normally vicious little guy seemed cute and childlike.

"How do we know that you won't lose your heart to darkness?"

Asher looked extremely serious now, the Heartless staring at him questioningly. "I've lost my heart once. It won't happen again. I'm sure of it."

"But how can you be so sure?"

Asher cracked a slight smile in the corner of his mouth. "Like this," he said. He turned to the Heartless. "Well, hello, there, little pal. Are you gonna take my heart?"

The Heartless shook its head.

"Oh, come, now. I'm sure you want to."

The Heartless eyed him from head to toe. It then saw the Keyblade. A Keyblade Master. That heart would be a prize, indeed. However, the Heartless simply shook its head.

"And why not?"

The Heartless then used its interesting shapeshifting ability to take the form of Asher's Nobody counterpart, Xanthas. It took a couple slashes at the ground, then transformed back into a Heartless, lowering itself in a way that made it look like it was cowering in fear. It was an amusing pantomime, to be sure.

Asher smiled widely. "See, Star? They know better."

Star wasn't convinced, but she didn't want to argue. "So, where do we go to do this?"

"Well, let's get back to the Gummi Ship. We'll need its computer. We need to go somewhere where there's a lot of Heartless; somewhere we can have a LOT of fun. That'll get us noticed."

Star rolled her eyes. "Yeah. And maybe killed."

"Let's just get on the ship and find a place to go."

"Fine."

With that, Star and Asher took their leave of Castle Oblivion. When they were clear of the castle, they took out the Gummi Ship and got in. "All right," Asher said with a professional authority, "let's bring up a list of nearby worlds on the ship's computer."

He sat down on the swivel chair, turned around, and began typing. As information poured onto the screen, Star huffed in displeasure. Asher swiveled the chair around to look at her. "What?"

"Asher, this is MY ship."

"Yes, and it's my plan. Plus, I'm better with computers."

Star looked very cross. She didn't like how Asher had pretty much taken command of their mission to bring balance and peace with the Keyblades. Sure, he was smart and resourceful, but she'd gotten a Keyblade before him, and she owned the ship, and she started the quest first. His arrogance was probably the worst part of it. Not only was he smart, but he _knew_ it. But then, he wasn't _that_ arrogant, was he? True, he did tend to make a sarcastic comment now and again, but he basically was a nice guy. So, why was she so frustrated?

Asher frowned. "Look, Star, if it's gonna make you that upset, here. You work the computer. Honestly," he said with a childish smirk, "I just like the spinny chair."

That brought a smile to Star's face. If anything else, he could make her laugh. "Nah," she decided, "you do it. You're the expert."

"All right," Asher said, quickly twisting the chair back to face the screen.

Watching the monitor as Asher swiftly maneuvered his way down the list of Heartless-infested worlds, she noticed him delaying at a specific one: Tempest Town. She felt a surge of a strange emotion. What was it? What emotion would she be feeling, anyway? Tempest Town might have been where she'd met Sora, Riku, and Kairi, but…

Then it hit her. Tempest Town was Asher's hometown. It was where Trista was. He was pausing at that world, wondering if she was in trouble. That still didn't explain the emotion she was feeling. After a long hesitation, Asher decided against Tempest Town, and continued scrolling. Star knew what she felt then; it was relief. But why would she feel relief? She had nothing to be relieved about. Unless…no, she decided. It couldn't be. She wasn't like that.

Trying not to sound distracted from his brief hesitation at Tempest Town, Asher casually asked, "So, Star, random question: how old are you, anyway?"

"Oh, I'm sex—" She froze. "Uh…sixteen." Her face was pinker than carnival cotton candy.

Despite her embarrassment, Asher either didn't notice her slip or didn't seem to care. For some reason, she hoped it was just the first one.

"You're pretty young, then. Not that I have much room to talk; I'm only 18."

_Hey, he's pretty close to my age. Wait. What am I thinking?_ Star shook her head._No, I'm not getting feelings for him. He's taken anyway. Must just be hormones, or being cramped up with him. That's it, it's the close quarters._

Asher pressed a button to the side of the keyboard and a piece of paper printed out next to the monitor. He tore it from the printer and swiveled his chair around to face Star. He held the paper out to her. "I've got a couple worlds here that have Xemnas' fingerprints ALL over them. Any of them are fine with me, but you might want to look them over to—"

Suddenly, the monitor blinked and the ship wrenched underneath them. The force of the moving ship had a negligible effect on Asher, who simply felt a slight pull toward the back of his chair. However, Star managed to lose her balance and stumbled forward—directly toward Asher. She fell, her body twisting in the air, finally landing on his right leg, sitting sideways, her knees facing his left. Too shocked to get up at the moment, Star simply looked at Asher, who, to her dismay, seemed amused by the situation. He shot her a friendly smile. "Star, I appreciate the enthusiasm with which you've thrown yourself upon me, but I am engaged, you know."

Her face turned so red that one who saw the scene might have thought that she'd popped all the blood vessels in it. She picked herself up from his lap and tried to regain her composure, to think of something to say.

Asher chuckled. "C'mon, Star, it was a joke. It was an accident. I know you didn't really throw yourself on me. Besides, like I said, you know I'm engaged. I wouldn't give Trista up for anything."

The redness in Star's face didn't dissipate as her embarrassment at the situation, for some reason, began to be replaced by a touch of jealousy.

Asher frowned. "What? Was it something I said?"

Star turned away.

Asher shrugged. Obviously she just didn't have a sense of humor about her own embarrassments. Well, who could blame her? It _was_ an embarrassing situation.

Star tried to change the subject. "Why'd the ship take off like that?"

Asher swiveled the chair around to view the monitor. "Looks like our ship's got a mind of its own, here."

"MY ship, you mean."

Asher chuckled again. "Yeah. YOUR ship. It's chosen one of the worlds on our list on its own, from the look of things."

"Which one?"

"Let me see here…Oh, no."

"What?"

"Well, according to this…the ship's going to a world we've already been to."

"Really? That's odd. Which one?"

Asher's displeasure was evident. "Feudal Japan."

"What's wrong with Feudal Japan?"

"One very annoying dog-wolf-person…thing."

"What?"

"Don't ask, Star. You weren't there until later. You'll see what I mean. But I do wonder why we need to go BACK. I mean, you killed Naraku."

"Yeah. I wonder what else could be wrong?"

Asher shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Listen, Star," he said, getting up from his chair, "I'm going to go try to get some sleep. Would you be nice enough to set an alarm to wake us up when we get there, if you're going to sleep soon, too?"

Star smiled. "Sure."

She heard a creak as the door to one of the small, closetlike rooms that served as bedrooms opened and shut. After the light clunking noise of the lock activating, she heard a thud, and ran to the door. "Asher?"

There was no response. She heard another thud, and this time some muffled speech as well.

"You worthless freak. Why did you have to make a joke out of it? Damnit, what the hell's wrong with you? Why isn't she here? I need her…Trista, please…Please…"

The banging noise stopped, replaced with sobbing.

Star knew the code for the door lock, and opened the door. Asher didn't notice. He was sprawled out on the bed, lying facedown, sobbing quietly and tearlessly. "Please…Trista…"

With Asher's Organization XIII robe off, she could see that although he did wear a pair of jeans underneath, but he either didn't wear a shirt or discarded it along with the robe. She wished that he hadn't. She could easily see that nearly half his upper body was covered in large, splotchy bruises. "Asher?"

He didn't turn his head to acknowledge her, but he did stop sobbing. "Oh. Hello, Star."

"Asher, are you…okay?"

"I bet if she knew…she wouldn't want to be with me."

"Knew what, Asher?"

He turned to her and smiled wryly.

"Asher, those bruises…are those from all the fighting we've been doing? You should do something about that. Maybe wear some sort of armor under your cloak or something."

Asher frowned. "What do YOU think those bruises are, Star?"

"I…I don't know."

"Punishment."

"Punishment? For what?"

"For what I do wrong. I've been selfish. I've been immoral. I've been stupid, I've been weak. I need to punish myself for it."

"Asher…you gave those bruises to yourself?"

"Don't play stupid, Star. You don't do it well. I know you were outside the door. You could hear me."

"But Asher…why?"

"You've heard of people cutting themselves, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, this is my cutting. I'm much to frightened to break my own skin, so…" He broke off.

Star walked over and sat next to him on the bed. He didn't get up. "Asher, I…" She held out her hand, but stopped just above his back. "I…"

"Are you afraid to touch me, Star? Are you worried I might do something bad? That I might joke about it? That I might tell you not to? That I might stop you?"

"Well, I don't want to make you upset."

"How would you make me upset?"

"If I touched you, then…"

"Then what? Touch can mean a lot of things, Star. It can mean love, affection, anger, dislike. It can be pulling someone closer, or pushing them away. It can be sexually stimulating, or it can just be comforting. Some people often mix those last two up, you know. Is that what you're afraid of, Star? Are you afraid that if you touched me, I'd automatically assume that we're going to have sex?"

"No, Asher," Star said, finally deciding to slowly stroke his back. "I'm afraid that I'd want it, and that you would, too."


	39. Chapter 38

Having just regained consciousness, Asher was reluctant to open his eyes. How much of what had happened last night had been a dream? He was afraid to find out. Suddenly, he realized that he had a sensation on his hip. Further, he felt periodic bursts of warm air on his neck. Now he REALLY didn't want to open his eyes. It couldn't have happened. It HAD to have been just a dream. There just wasn't any way he'd really…His heart jumped. He heard a sigh and felt the sensation on his hip move slowly up and down his leg. _No._

"Asher, you awake?" he heard a female voice, seductive and apparently elated.

_No._

"Asher, wake up."

_God, no. Please, God, no._

The voice became playfully annoyed. "C'mon, Asher, get up. Please?" The sensation now moved upward, across his chest, then slowly back toward his legs.

_Son of a bitch._

He opened his eyes. Lying in bed, facing him, was Star. Her long brown hair was carelessly thrown back behind her head, revealing her full, curving, naked body.

_Okay, calm down. She's probably just pulling some kind of joke. Some kind of malicious, terrible, sick joke._

"God, Asher. Last night was SO amazing," Star sighed.

_Oh, God. This isn't some sort of joke. This really happened. What am I going to do?_

"What's wrong, Asher?" she asked, pulling his body to hers so he could feel her bare skin pressed against his.

Asher couldn't find the strength to push her away. This time, the thought made it past his brain and out of his mouth. "This can't be happening."

"What do you mean, Asher?"

"We didn't…I mean, we couldn't have…"

Star held him more tightly. "Mmmm…you smell nice. How about a repeat of last night, huh, Asher? I won't tell anyone."

Asher frowned and tugged lightly, trying to signal to Star that he wanted her to let him go. "Star, I shouldn't have…"

She brought her mouth close to his ear. "Asher, you know you needed this. You needed it, and I wanted it. There's nothing wrong. Don't worry. She'll never know. So, c'mon. One more time, and then we'll say we're done?"

_God, that sounds tempting…_

"Star, I don't think I can go through with this again."

Star gave a disappointed sigh. "All right. I won't try to force you to do something you don't want to do."

"You won't WHAT!?" Asher jumped out of the bed and threw on his cloak.

"Asher?"

"You won't try to force me to do something I don't want to do? What the hell do you think last night was?!"

"Asher, I didn't force you to…"

"You might as well have! You knew I was engaged! You knew I wasn't in the right state of mind last night! You took advantage of that!"

"Asher, that's not true. I didn't take advantage. I just gave you what you wanted."

"Excuse me? You gave me _what I wanted_? What the hell is WRONG with you?! I even TOLD you last night that I was engaged and I wouldn't give that up for anything!"

"Asher, you're being unfair!"

"I'm being UNFAIR? Damnit, Star, you took advantage of me! You want to know why I went along with what happened last night? Do you really want to know? Here's how it happened. You fell on me, and I made a little joke. I felt bad. I went into this room here to try to calm myself down. Then I got to thinking about how I shouldn't have made that joke, how I should have kept my mouth shut. I thought about Trista, and how much I missed her, and how I didn't deserve her if I was gonna flirt like that with someone. I felt so guilty, I started to punish myself. Then, you came in. You wanted to comfort me, so I let you. I needed comfort. You were afraid to touch me, afraid that it might turn into something bad. So, I let you know that it was okay to touch me to comfort me, so you did. But you didn't stop there, did you?"

"Asher…"

"You knew I was weak, you knew I didn't have self-control in my condition."

"Asher…"

"What's wrong with you?"

"Asher, STOP!"

"Why the hell should I stop? You raped me, you little WHORE!"

Star froze. "I what?"

"You heard me. You RAPED me."

"Asher, that's not a fair statement. You went along with everything that happened last night."

"Star, you don't honestly believe that, do you? You took advantage of my lack of self-control to get me to have sex with you. Self-control that I lost because I was mentally unstable. That constitutes rape."

Star stormed out of the room, either not noticing or not caring that she'd forgotten her clothes. Meanwhile, Asher fell to his knees. "It doesn't matter," he said weakly. "It doesn't matter that she took advantage of me. I still went along with it. Trista will never forgive me."

Asher heard Axel's voice in his head, answering him. "Just don't tell her."

Asher sighed. "Axel, I have to tell her. She trusts me, and I need to be honest with her."

The world around Asher quickly faded to a white abyss, like in the Hall of Rememberance. Axel stood before Asher, helping him up. "If you're HONEST with her, she SHOULD understand. You're pretty smart; I don't think you'd pick a girl that didn't understand the truth."

"Yeah, but…what do I do now? About Star?"

"Forgive her."

"Forgive her? Why? After what she did?"

"Sure. She's just a kid, Asher. She made a mistake. She followed her body's desires instead of her heart's."

"Trista wouldn't forgive her for what she did. She'd be furious."

"All the more reason for you to be forgiving, Asher. Or do I have to remind you of some of the sins YOU'VE committed?"

"What are you talking about?"

Axel shook his head. "I'm in your head, Asher. I can see your thoughts. I can see your memories, what you've done. You're not exactly a saint."

"Don't judge me, Axel. You, of all people, have NO RIGHT to judge me."

"Maybe not, but you certainly don't have any right to judge this little girl."

"Axel, I can judge whoever I want however I want."

"Of course." Axel said sardonically.

"My past has nothing to do with what happened last night."

"Maybe it doesn't, maybe it does. But that's not the issue. The issue is you refuse to forgive this girl for committing a sin, when you've committed a few of your own."

Asher's eyes narrowed. "Those people DESERVED what they got!" He pointed a finger at Axel accusingly. "Are you trying to tell me that what I've done is worse than whatever you did? Because I doubt it!"

"You're being very hypocritical today, Asher. You use my past as an excuse to say that I don't have the right to judge you, but you say that your past shouldn't affect your ability to pass judgment on that girl for what she did. Is what she did worse than what you did?"

"Axel, just stop. I know what you're trying to do."

Axel shook his head. "You really think you can walk away from your past?"

Asher sighed. "No, Axel. I can't. I know I can't. I just… I don't think I can forgive Star for what she did. I don't think I can forgive myself for what I did."

Axel smiled. "If there's one thing I've learned, it's this: Forgiveness is something you can give to someone else, something you can get from someone else, but not yourself. Self forgiveness is a pipe dream for most people. Best thing to do is just…forget, and move on. But as for other people…you gotta forgive them, Asher. Because if you don't; if you just let them suffer…you'll regret it."

"As usual, Axel, you're right," Asher conceded.

The real world faded back into view as Asher's vision ended. Asher looked at the clock. 10:00 AM. He'd been talking to Axel for three hours? How? The conversation had only lasted a minute…

He drew his composure. It would take a lot to apologize to Star and keep the problem from happening again, both without hurting her. The door opened and he walked out, inching his way uncomfortably toward Star, who now sat in the computer chair, pretending she hadn't felt crushed. "Hey, Star?"

When she turned around, Asher could see tears streaming down her face. He flinched. "What do YOU want?" she asked angrily. "Can't you see you've made me feel bad enough?"

"Actually, Star, I've come to apologize."

"Really?" Star sniffed.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I snapped on you, Star."

"So…you're not mad?"

"Well, not AS mad. I still feel like you took advantage of me, but I'm forgiving you for it. But, there isn't going to be any more sex between us, okay?"

Star nodded. "Okay, as long as we're still friends."

"Sure."

"Wow. I would have thought that it would have taken a lot longer for this to happen than it has."

"Well, Star, normally, I don't think I ever would have forgiven you, but…an old friend of mine explained something to me."

"I see. So…there's no need to tell your fiancée, right?"

"No, Star, I'm sorry, but I still have to tell Trista. I have to be honest with her. Even if it means…"

"Oh. I don't have to be there when you tell her, do I?"

Asher looked helplessly at Star. "I guess not. But I don't know if it'll go much better if I tell her alone."

"I'm sorry, Asher, I don't think I can do it."

Asher sighed. "I understand," he said. He looked at the ground, beginning to feel uncomfortable with looking Star in her wet, bloodshot eyes. "So, are we there yet?"

"Almost. Looks like we still have another couple of minutes."

She got up from the chair and wiped the remaining tears from her face. Then, her arms outstretched, she approached Asher cautiously. "Look, Asher, I'm sorry for what happened."

Asher pulled away, rejecting the hug as if he were afraid of her touch. "Don't worry about it. In time, we'll both forget it ever happened," he said, walking back to his room to put his clothes back on under his cloak.

Star frowned. _I won't,_ she thought.

---

When the Gummi Ship landed outside of a small village in Feudal Japan, Asher was reluctantly the first one to step out. He hadn't given Star the chance to get dressed yet, and, upset as he still was with her, he didn't want her out in this world naked. He wouldn't wish that on anyone. As soon as he got outside to look around, the ground shook. He turned to his right to see a cloud of smoke puff up from the center of the village and quickly dissipate. From as far away as he was, he could still make out the gist of what was happening. He saw a gigantic figure a few hundred feet from the burst of smoke. It looked more like a plant than a creature, but on the top, Asher saw a white piece of cloth of some kind. Squinting to get a better look, he realized what it was. An albino baboon skin. Perfect. Watching the figure, he soon saw another, much smaller figure jumping from building to building, narrowly avoiding being clobbered by horrendously enormous roots. The figure was mostly red, and Asher knew instantly what that figure was. Inuyasha. Asher sighed. He was hoping that he wouldn't have to deal with Inuyasha. He doubted that Inuyasha would understand what he was going to do, anyway. Well, it couldn't be helped. He supposed that if Inuyasha tried to stop him, he'd have to fight. He'd just have to be sure that Inuyasha wasn't killed. As Asher decided that he would go to help Inuyasha, Star emerged from the Gummi Ship wearing a very short black skirt and a green button-up vest over a white tank top that didn't serve to cover much more than her breasts.

Asher sighed. "Star, why are you wearing that?"

Star had a look of genuine confusion on her face. "It's the only clean outfit I have right now. My dad picked it out for me."

Asher raised an eyebrow. "Your father picked that outfit out for you?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Nothing. I just didn't realize your world didn't value modesty."

Star stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry. "At least my clothes are clean. I don't wear the same thing every day."

"My clothes ARE clean. I do laundry almost every day."

"How do you wash your clothes if you only have one outfit?"

_This was the girl that raped me?_ "I take them off."

Star pondered it for a moment. Her face sported a look of one who had just realized that they had said something foolish. "Oh. Didn't think of that."

Asher shook his head. "Come on, let's go help Inuyasha before he gets himself killed."

"Inuyasha?"

"The human/demon guy I told you about."

"But I thought his name was Naraku."

"No, the other one. The dog one, or wolf one, or whatever he is."

"Oh, okay."

The two ran to the village. However, when they got there, they were almost disappointed. Inuyasha was already in the process of tearing the puppet to shreds. "WIND SCAR!"

At that, powerful bursts of energy flew from his blade and tore through the puppet. It fell to pieces and a small, pink crystal fell from the sky. Kagome was there to catch it. She giggled. "Another jewel shard! At this rate, we'll have 'em all in no time!"

"Hmph. I still don't like this, Kagome. If these things are back, it can only mean that Naraku's still out there."

Asher spoke up, much to the surprise of Kagome and Inuyasha. "Naraku's still alive?"

Kagome smiled. "Asher! Hi!"

"Hello, Kagome. Hello, Inuyasha." He tried his best and managed to sound polite to both Kagome _and_ Inuyasha. However, his courtesy had fallen on deaf ears.

"You again?"

"Yeah, me again."

"Great. Just what we need. Someone snooping around."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, Inuyasha, don't be so rude. So what brings you back here, Asher?"

Inuyasha squinted disapprovingly. "I'll bet I know what brings him back here," he muttered under his breath.

"Oh, hush, Inuyasha!"

Asher sighed. "Maybe this is a bad time. Besides, I only came here to help Inuyasha, and it looks like he didn't need any help. So, we'll just be off, then."

He started to walk away when he realized he didn't hear footsteps following him. He looked back and saw Star talking to Inuyasha, with Kagome giving her a death glare. "Oh, you've gotta me kidding me. She's like a damn schoolgirl."

_She IS a schoolgirl, remember?_ Asher shook his head and walked back.

"Apparently we'd be delighted to stay and chat."

"I can see that," Kagome remarked drily.

Asher walked up to her. No sense turning the visit into an entire waste of time. "She's a charmer, isn't she?" he asked, chuckling at the distressed look on Inuyasha's face.

"Has she done this before?"

"Oh, I've only seen her do it once. But that was more than enough."

"So, are you two…"

"No. She's just travelling with me. Or, I'm just travelling with her, I guess. It's her ship."

"I see. So, why ARE you back, Asher? Didn't you get what you came here for?"

"Yeah, but we're looking for someone now. Someone really bad. We won't be able to find him ourselves, so we're gonna do something so that he'll find us."

"Oh? What's that?"

Asher shifted uncomfortably. "We're going to take control of his Heartless."

Kagome looked at him inquisitively. "Why?"

"Because if he notices that the Heartless aren't doing his bidding anymore, he'll come to investigate."

"I see. That makes sense, I guess," she said absently. She stepped closer. "Asher…I was wondering…"

"Wondering what?"

"I was just wondering if you could help us."

Asher breathed a sigh of relief. As narcissistic as it might seem, he was worried she might have said something else. "What can I help you with?"

"Well, with the puppets back…I think…that is, Inuyasha thinks that Naraku's still alive. That that girl didn't kill him."

Asher shook his head. "I don't see how. Most people can't survive being cut in half without putting themselves back together. And it looked like she made it so that he couldn't put himself back together."

"Still, he could be alive."

"Has he come back from the dead before?"

"I'm not sure. He's definitely made us believe that he was dead before, though. That's what worries me. Maybe we'll never kill the real Naraku."

"I'm sure you will. Now, what makes you think he might still be alive, besides the puppets?"

"Well," Kagome explained, "Inuyasha's been finding his scent everywhere. And it's all really recent. At first he thought he was going crazy, but then he was sure that it was Naraku. Plus, when the girl killed Naraku…or whoever that was that looked like him…there weren't any jewel shards in him. Naraku always keeps a large fragment of the Shikon Jewel with him. It makes him stronger."

"I guess. Whatever Star killed might have been another puppet."

"See, Asher, that's the weird thing. Naraku's puppets need jewel shards to power them. That…creature didn't have any jewel shards in it. What do you suppose it means?"

Asher pondered for a moment. "I'd say…I'd say it means that you've got a Naraku look-alike on your hands. Or, at least, you did."

"So, will you help us defeat Naraku?"

Asher looked over at the half-demon. "Well, I'm not sure Inuyasha would want me to help."

Kagome frowned. "Forget Inuyasha. He needs to learn that he can't do everything himself."

Asher sighed. "I guess I can help…"

Kagome smiled. "Thank you!" She gave him a big, uncomfortable squeeze that nearly made his ribs crack.

Getting himself free, Asher was about to say something when he was interrupted by a very distinguishable voice. He didn't know whose it was, but he knew he'd remember it from now on.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Inuyasha. Still cavorting with _disgraceful_ humans, I see. I'd expect nothing different."

Asher saw a flush of anger across Inuyasha's face, but also a slight amount of relief. At least it was an excuse to draw his attention away from Star. "Hm. What are you doing here? Come to get your ass kicked by my Tetsusaiga?"

"YOUR Tetsusaiga? That sword should belong to me."

"Not this crap again. Nobody CARES who the sword SHOULD belong to, Sesshomaru. It was given to me."

Asher questioned Kagome quietly. "Sesshomaru?"

"Inuyasha's older brother. A full demon. He wants the Tetsusaiga, and to kill Inuyasha."

"Is he gonna need some help?"

"I don't know. It's been a while since they've fought. Inuyasha's gotten stronger, but maybe Sesshomaru has, too."

Asher decided to step up. He started a nonchalant march toward Sesshomaru. Kagome protested slightly. "Asher, I think Inuyasha would want this to be his fight…"

He stopped a few feet to Inuyasha's right and spoke up. "Is there a problem here?"

Sesshomaru's eyes gravitated slightly toward Asher, as if he were acknowledging Asher, but would not afford him the status of 'threat.' His white cloak was quite plain, save a few colors here and there, but attention was easily drawn to the fur around his neck, his large spiked shoulder armor, and the purple marks on his face that resembled (but couldn't possibly be) scars. His white hair flowed in the wind. "Stay out of this, human."

Asher frowned. "You say the word 'human' like it's an insult."

Sesshomaru afforded himself a slight chuckle. "It is an insult."

"Oh. I see. Well, I don't take kindly to being insulted. I'd appreciate it if you'd shut the hell up."

A small, green, beaked demon with a large staff peeked out from behind Sesshomaru's white cloak. "Those who threaten Lord Sesshomaru won't live to realize their mistake!"

Sesshomaru looked down at the pathetic creature. "Be quiet, Jaken," he said, pounding down on the creature's head with his fist. "It appears our interrupting guest believes himself to be a challenge to me."

Sesshomaru stared into Asher's eyes, keeping an indifferent look on his face to intimidate Asher. "So, am I correct? Do you think yourself a challenge, human? Pitiful. I should crush you right here for your insolence, weakling."

"Go ahead and try."

Sesshomaru flicked his wrist and a green flash of light whipped toward Asher, who barely managed to sidestep. Asher looked at the ground and saw the grass instantly die where the light flash had touched it. "Poison whip? What the…"

He didn't have much time to react before Sesshomaru's outstretched hand with its clawed fingers reached for his face. He grabbed Sesshomaru's hand by the wrist just centimeters from its target. He saw Sesshomaru's claws glowing purple. "Let me guess: the claws are poisonous, too?" He tried to sound cocky, but he knew that he probably wouldn't be able to stop Sesshomaru's next attack.

"I have to admit, I've never had a human halt an attack from me before. You're most likely no ordinary human. No matter. I've killed my share of humans of all kinds. You're just like the rest. You'll die all the same."

Sesshomaru raised the other clawed hand. Asher wanted to grab it, to make it stop its inevitable descent toward his skull, but he knew that he only had enough strength in his two arms to hold back one of these powerful hands. He closed his eyes tightly, waiting for some sort of miracle. Suddenly, as Sesshomaru began to swipe, he felt a shift in the demon's balance. Thanking no god in particular, he managed to take a step backward, the claw narrowly missing taking off his face. _I can't fight him. He's too strong._

Asher flung Sesshomaru's wrist back, hoping to catch him off balance. However, Sesshomaru didn't move. Sesshomaru balled his other hand into a fist and punched Asher hard in the gut. Choking from the rapid escape of air from his chest, Asher summoned his Keyblade and began swinging wildly at Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru brought out a sword and began to block Asher's onslaught. As Sesshomaru drew himself back into a killing stance, Asher felt something hit him hard on the side. It was the hilt of Inuyasha's gigantic sword. Asher flew to the right, tumbling over himself as he hit the ground.

"He's mine, you got that?!"

Asher shook his head. _Remember to thank him when this is over._

"Do you even know this human, Inuyasha? I haven't seen him with you before."

"None of your business."

"Protecting someone you don't even know? So, you're going even MORE soft. How degrading."

"Just shut up and fight, Sesshomaru!"

"I'm afraid that I'm not here to fight you, Inuyasha. Tempting, though it may be. No, I'm actually here as an…informant. It would appear that Naraku is still alive."

"Why would you tell me?"

Sesshomaru dismissed the question. "That's not your concern. Naraku's very interested in someone, Inuyasha. And this time, it's not you."

Sesshomaru glanced over at Asher, who was rubbing his side as he got up. "It would appear that Naraku's interested in a human. A human from somewhere…else. You wouldn't happen to know a human like that, would you?"

"Maybe it's the girl. You can take her away if you want."

Sesshomaru eyed Star carefully. "No, I don't think it's her. I think it may be your friend over there, whose side you kindly broke in your eagerness to fight me."

"Sesshomaru, what the hell's going on? Why are you telling me this?"

"Like I said before, it's none of your concern. Just pass the information along. I'm sure your friend will be delighted to know that Naraku's looking for him."

With that, Sesshomaru turned around. "Come, Jaken. We're done here."

"But Lord Sesshomaru…the human…"

"Jaken, we'll leave him for now."

"Surely you won't allow him to get away with his insult, my lord!"

"Jaken, you are dangerously close to a skull fracture. Now, let's go, before I grow impatient."

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru looked over his shoulder. "Another time, Inuyasha. Another time."

Sesshomaru grabbed Jaken by the collar and leaped out of sight.


	40. Chapter 39

Star frowned. "So what's all this about Naraku being alive, now?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Says he's looking for some human. Sesshomaru thinks it's Asher."

"Why's that?"

Inuyasha scoffed. "How the hell should I know? He doesn't seem so special to me."

Kagome shook her head. "Inuyasha, I think you're selling him short. He didn't do that bad against Sesshomaru."

"Open your eyes, Kagome, he almost got killed!"

"Hmph. And you care?"

"Of course not," Inuyasha said indifferently. He turned to Star, who was giving him an angry stare. "And what are you looking at, girl?"

Star was about to answer when Inuyasha's ears twitched. He'd obviously heard a noise. Asher began to hear it, too, and instinctively turned around to find the source of the sound. It was Miroku, the monk in the purple robe, and Sango, the demon huntress. "Hello, Inuyasha, Kagome," the monk said. "How has your search been going? We haven't found a thing. Not one trace of Naraku besides these puppets. Well, we…" the monk cut off in mid-sentence as he noticed Star and Asher. "Ah, Asher. I see you're back. And you've brought the girl with you."

Asher smiled slightly. "Hello, Miroku. It seems you were right about the strength…being…in…" Asher sighed as Miroku bypassed him to approach Star.

"You are a radiant one indeed. May I bestow upon you the honor of bearing my children?"

"Excuse me?"

"Someone as beautiful as you would more than deserve the honor of being the mother of my child," Miroku stated obviously.

Star grew irritated quickly. As Miroku reached to grab her, her fist elected to make contact with his chin. Miroku yelped in pain, stroking his nearly fractured jawbone. Kagome shook her head. "You'd think he'd have learned by now."

Inuyasha smirked. "Yeah, and tomorrow Shippo will tear the head off a full-demon."

Kagome gave Inuyasha a questioning glance. "Inuyasha? Where IS Shippo?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Beats me. The little demon must have run off somewhere before these guys came the first time. I haven't seen him in a while."

Kagome looked concerned. "Run off? Why didn't anyone follow him? Or ask him where he was going?"

A confused look shot across Miroku's face. "More importantly, Kagome, how did we not notice that he was gone?"

Inuyasha scowled. "Are you accusing me of something?"

"No, Inuyasha. I think something—or someone—is at work here."

Asher interjected. "You don't think this has anything to do with Naraku, do you?"

Sango shook her head. "I don't see what Naraku would want with Shippo. No offense to the little guy, but mostly he's just dead weight to us."

"Uh…guys?" There was a hint of urgency in Star's voice.

"You sure he wouldn't want him? Some sort of kidnapping plot to get your…jewel…shard…things as a ransom?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "Naraku's smarter than that. He knows we wouldn't care if he took Shippo."

"Guys….."

Kagome looked angrily at Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, how can you be so heartless?"

"Kagome, you know as well as I do that—"

"GUYS!"

Inuyasha turned to look at Star, annoyed. "What…" he broke off in mid-sentence, his eyes growing wide as his gaze caught what Star was staring at.

Standing in front of them was an enormous, vicious-looking fox. It wore a toothy grin and was surrounded by flames. Kagome's voice faltered slightly. "Shi…Shippo?"

The fox didn't respond. It simply walked casually toward Inuyasha. "I've been wanting to do this for a LONG time now," it said in a demonically-altered child's voice. It brought its great paw down onto Inuyasha's head, leaving a gigantic welt.

Inuyasha groaned. "Yeah, that's Shippo. Shippo, what the hell happened to you? What are you doing?"

"I don't know. I just woke up and you guys were gone. Next thing I knew I was huge and I couldn't really control myself all that well."

Inuyasha tentatively placed his hand on Tetsusaiga. "What do you mean, you couldn't—"

The fox took a swipe and knocked Inuyasha off his feet. Eyeing it carefully, she shouted, "Inuyasha, he's got seven…no, eight jewel shards!"

Asher didn't know the significance of the shards, but he could warrant a guess. "So…he's Naraku's pawn now?"

Inuyasha brushed dirt from his robe. "Guess so. Well, there's only one thing to do now. Get those jewel shards."

"Don't hurt him, Inuyasha!" Kagome warned. "That's still Shippo!"

"I can't promise that. Not if he hurts me," Inuyasha said, drawing Tetsusaiga. "Where are the shards, exactly?"

Kagome stepped forward for a closer look. She breathed a sigh of relief. "The teeth, Inuyasha! The teeth and the front claws!"

"Good, not the throat. At least I don't have to kill him to get him back to normal."

Inuyasha's second of inattention taking out his sword cost him. The giant fox thrust its paw down onto him, pinning him and sending Tetsusaiga flying. "Sorry, Inuyasha. I didn't really want to do this," the creature said, raising its other paw high into the air. "I guess Naraku just really wants you dead."

As the fox's paw began its swift descent toward Inuyasha's face, an odd slicing noise emanated from its back. The creature halted. Turning its head, it saw in horror that it had a Keyblade wrenched into its spine. Asher yelled in caution. "Star, wait, I don't think…"

It was too late. Star twisted the blade and severed the creature's spine. It instantly fell dead, the jewel shards dropping from its claws and teeth. The creature began to shrink until it was simply a small child with a tail and fox ears. Kagome let out a sharp cry. "No! Shippo!"

Even Inuyasha looked angry, and almost sad. "What the hell did you do that for?!"

Star frowned sheepishly. "Well, you were in trouble, and…"

"Didn't you HEAR Kagome say not to hurt him? And what did you do? You KILLED him! What's wrong with you?"

"I…I'm sorry."

Inuyasha brought his sword to Star's throat. "Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you here right now."

Asher, who had approached Inuyasha from behind, grabbed his arm and pulled it gently down, the Tetsusaiga along with it. Asher shook his head. "Let it go, Inuyasha. It's not going to bring him back."

Inuyasha scowled. "Maybe not, but it's what she deserves."

"She made a MISTAKE, Inuyasha. A mistake that cost someone his life. She has to live with that guilt for the rest of HER life. Don't you think that's punishment enough?"

Inyasha frowned. "Why are you protecting her?"

"Because I've made mistakes, too. Look at YOUR past, Inuyasha. Have you never made a mistake that cost someone his or her life? Hm? In this age? In this place? I doubt it."

Inuyasha sheathed Tetsusaiga. "You make sense, kid. But here…you can't afford to be that weak."

"I don't see mercy and forgiveness as weak, Inuyasha. It takes a strong person to be merciful and forgiving."

Inuyasha shook his head. "Maybe in some other place, some other time. Here it means you're weak, and you won't live long with that attitude."

Asher began to get irritated. "And what ATTITUDE allows you to live in YOUR world, Inuyasha?"

Kagome frowned. "The attitude that human life…and demon life…is worth nothing compared to your own. A terrible attitude that isn't even necessary."

"But it IS necessary, here. No one cares about anyone else in this place. Anyone that does ends up dead. Dead, like…" Inuyasha choked on the name.

Kagome's frown widened. "Dead like Kikiyo. Inuyasha's first love."

"Inyasha was in love?"

"Forget it," Inuyasha snapped. "It's none of your business."

Asher looked briefly at the ground in submission. He glanced slowly at the small demon's dead body on the ground. "So…what do we do with Shippo?"

Miroku stroked his chin thoughtfully. "He was valiant, for his stature. He deserves an honorable burial."

Inuyasha's face softened. "Yeah."

"But, Inuyasha, you know as well as I do that there's no place among humans for the honorable burial of a demon."

Inuyasha thought for a moment, and made a surprising decision. "Then I'll bury him myself."

Kagome's eyes narrowed confusedly. "Inuyasha?"

"What?"

"Inuyasha, that's just…not like you."

"He didn't deserve to die like that, Kagome. He deserved better, even though he was a stupid little runt."

"Oh. Well, I'll help."

Miroku and Sango took a step forward. "We'll help, too."

Asher smiled warmly. "I'd love to—"

He was cut off. "You two have done ENOUGH," Inuyasha warned.

Asher sighed, hurt. "Fine. Come on, Star, let's go."

"Asher, I didn't want to hurt any innocent people…"

"I know, Star, I know. Let's get out of here before we get JUDGED to death."

"Yeah, all right."

The two left without another word, walking into a nearby forest. "Hey, Asher?" Star asked tentatively.

"Yeah?"

"Where exactly are we going?"

"Don't know, don't care. Just AWAY from him."

"Uh….aren't we going to try to…"

"Honestly, Star, I don't think I really care about that right now. Right now I just need to get FAR away from him and wait until I feel better. Then I'll worry about Remnant."

"Asher?"

"WHAT, DAMNIT?"

Star rolled her eyes. "Someone's watching us from in the forest."

"How can you tell?"

"I can hear breathing. Listen."

Sure enough, a small breath was heard every few seconds, echoing through all the forest as the noise bounced off the trees. "Hm. Well, there's only one thing to do, Star. We just keep walking and hope that whoever it is isn't going to kill us."

Suddenly, a sinister voice emerged from the darkness, along with a tall, slender human shape. "What a clever plan, Asher. Did you think of that all by yourself?"

Star's eyes narrowed angrily. "Naraku."

Naraku's shape grew more visible as the shadows around him faded, walking to a small break in the treeline where light shone through. "Very perceptive, little girl. Are you disappointed that you didn't kill me? I thought you would be."

"What do you want, Naraku?" Asher demanded.

"To talk to you, of course. That's why I sent Sesshomaru. To…get myself better acquainted with you. Specifically with your fighting ability."

"Oh? And what did you find out?"

"Well, I must say that I was disappointed, myself. Surely one such as you with so much potential could have been trained more rigorously. It's as if you simply gave up halfway through learning to fight as if that would suffice in a real battle!"

"Well, that's just your opinion. Now what do you REALLY want?"

"Hm. Straight to the point, I see. Too bad. More talk would have allowed you to live longer. You see, I have come to tell you that I do not find you useful, as I previously thought that I might. Meaning that I will be eliminating you."

"You know what, Naraku? Just go away. Okay? Don't mess with us right now. We've had an EXTREMELY bad day," Star warned.

"You couldn't kill us if you wanted to, anyway," Asher added.

Naraku laughed. "It doesn't really matter whether or not I could kill you. What matters is the fact that my Heartless WILL kill you," he said, raising a hand, summoning a horde of Heartless to attack the duo.

Asher smirked. "Guess what I learned, Naraku."

Asher held out his hand in a commanding motion, like a policeman attempting to stop traffic. The Heartless immediately halted their charge and stood obediently, waiting for another order.

Naraku's eyes widened slightly. "Impossible! Heartless, get them!"

The Heartless looked at Naraku, then back at Asher, then stood, once again waiting for another order from Asher.

"Heartless, do as I say! I am your master! I COMMAND you to attack them!"

There was no response from the Heartless.

"What is this? What have you done?"

Asher held out his arms apologetically. "All I've done, Naraku, is learned how to use my heart to control the Heartless, just like you. Only I'm strong enough not to be lost to the darkness."

"What, are you going to kill me now? Remnant will hear of this."

Star smiled, deciding to join in on the conversation. "That's just what we're counting on."

"Have a wonderful time," Asher suggested ominously, summoning at least ten more Heartless to join the horde he had taken control of from Naraku, "in hell, Naraku."

"Remnant will make you regret this!"

Asher turned around. "I'm sure he will."

He snapped his fingers and the Heartless attacked Naraku, beginning to rip the demon to shreds. "Let's go, Star," Asher said, muffled by the final and only screams of anguish Naraku ever emitted.

As the two emerged from the forest, they realized that it hadn't taken long for the disturbance that Asher had created to reach their target. Clouds began to swirl in around the sky, blocking out the sun, and winds began to pick up, flattening the grass in the surrounding meadow. "Asher, I think it's Remnant."

"Probably, Star."

"Are you sure we're ready to fight him?"

"Well, we're about to find out. But if it turns out that we ARE ready to fight him, remember not to kill him or hurt him badly. We need him to get to Kingdom Hearts."

A tall, thin, well-built man approached them. He had short white hair, which he wore above his head in an almost army-style cut. His tan skin, dark brown eyes, and pointed chin were very distinctive features. He frowned. "Asher? Is that you? I've been looking for you."

"Hello, Remnant."

"Perhaps you haven't heard, Asher. My name is Xemnas once again. I've become whole."

"Really? You've become whole? And where exactly did you find your heart?"

Xemnas looked annoyed. "I have not yet retrieved my heart from Kingdom Hearts."

"So you're NOT whole, then?"

"No, I suppose I am not."

Star decided to try to casually break the tension. "So, Xemnas…why were you looking for Asher?"

"Because, I need his help."

Asher chuckled slightly. "Help? Why do you need my help?"

"Because you need a HEART to communicate with Kingdom Hearts."

"I see. Now, why exactly do you think I'd help you, Xemnas?"

Xemnas smiled. "Because you love your fiancé very much, Asher."

That got Asher's attention. "What?"

"It's very simple. I assume you want to see her again?"

"You bastard."

Star suddenly felt very uncomfortable. She wanted to be involved in the discussion because she felt left out, but at the same time…

"Now, Asher, that doesn't sound like the kind of response I would give if someone that I loved was kidnapped."

"Because you're a heartless BASTARD! No help, Xemnas. You give her to me, now."

"I don't believe that you're in a position to make demands, Asher. As Luxord might say," Xemnas held out his hand, a playing card held between his index finger and thumb, "I hold all the cards."

He turned the playing card around, displaying a picture of Trista, Asher's fiancé. Asher choked as the card emitted a tiny muffled cry. "Asher? Is that you? Help!"

"Damn you, Xemnas!"

"You know, I do wonder why she waited for you. After all, she had no idea of what happened to you."

"Let her go!"

"I'll let her go…once I have had my heart returned to me."

"You're sick."

"Forgive me for having no sympathy. Such is difficult without a heart."

Asher didn't quite know how to feel, himself. His plan had succeeded, Xemnas was even going to take him to Kingdom Hearts without a fight. At the same time, though, now Trista was this madman's captive. He could only hope that he would be able to save her before something bad happened. "Lead the way, Xemnas."

"A wise decision," Xemnas stated, opening a portal into darkness. Star and Asher followed him through.


	41. Chapter 40

Star was quiet throughout the trip through the darkness. She kept her eyes closed and simply followed Xemnas by ear alone. However, even she was not in thought as deep as Asher's. He had set his body on a sort of autopilot, retreating to the deepest caverns of his mind. He wanted to talk to Axel, to get Axel's opinion on Xemnas' behavior.

"So, what do you think, Axel? What's his angle here?"

Axel shrugged uninterestedly. "I think he's telling the truth. He wants his heart back. Is it so hard to believe that Kingdom Hearts can only be spoken to by a heart? After all, what IS Kingdom Hearts but a collection of the hearts of those that have passed on?"

"I guess. Still…I don't know. Should I trust him?"

"What other choice do you HAVE, Asher?"

"I guess you're right. But…what do I do after that? I can't just leave Kingdom Hearts after helping him to get his heart back."

"And why not?"

"Because, I have to correct the imbalance that caused the Heartless to begin assaulting innocent worlds in the first place. And I have to get you your heart back."

"The second reason is a good one. The first one…do you even know what the imbalance is?"

"Well, no."

"Then maybe that's what you should ask Kingdom Hearts before you decide to ask it to correct it. After all, how can you fix something if you don't know what it is?"

"Well, you can't."

"Exactly. Just…be careful, Asher. Kingdom Hearts doesn't give freely. It takes things in return."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly that. Kingdom Hearts gets something in return for what it gives. It doesn't ask. It just takes. You don't get to choose what it takes."

"I…see. Thanks for the warning."

"If you were smart, you'd let the girl talk to Kingdom Hearts. To save your own skin."

Asher smirked. "C'mon, Axel. You know I'm not that smart."

Axel chuckled. "No, I guess you're not. Just be careful, and remember what I said."

Suddenly, Asher's mind was forced back into his consciousness. Xemnas had stopped. "Here we are, children."

Together, Asher and Star began to say, "I'm not a—"

Xemnas either didn't notice that they were speaking, or he didn't care. "Behold, the endless abyss. Within lies the heart of all worlds: Kingdom Hearts."

Asher rolled his eyes. _Why do I feel a speech coming on?_ he thought to himself. He looked over at Star, who was as apprehensive as he was.

Xemnas continued, "Look as hard as you are able. You will not find even the smallest glimmer of light. From these dark depths are all hearts born. Even yours."

Xemnas stopped, and thought for a moment. He chuckled. "Sorry. I got caught up in a bit of…nostalgia. Now, Asher…look over there," he said, motioning with his hand. "That door. That large door there…that door is the Door to Darkness. Speak to it, and you will speak to Kingdom Hearts itself. Now, I must warn you. Do not trifle with me. If you do not retrieve my heart, I kill the girl. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Xemnas. I understand."

"Good. Now, go."

As Asher walked toward the door, Star called her Keyblade. Xemnas' glance did not shift. He simply said, "Don't try it, girl. For your own sake."

She relaxed her arm and let the blade disappear. Now obviously wasn't the time.

Asher began to hear a voice in his head. _Hello, Asher._

He decided that Kingdom Hearts must speak telepathically. Perhaps it could read his thoughts? "Hello, Kingdom Hearts."

_Tell me something, Asher. Why have you come?_

Kingdom Hearts obviously spoke very simply. Maybe this way of speaking and listening was how it found out the intentions of people who came to it. Asher decided to speak politely and frankly.

"Because I seek something, Kingdom Hearts."

_You seek the tall one's heart. We know this._

"I also seek something else."

_Oh? And what is that, Asher?_

"I seek knowledge, Kingdom Hearts."

_I see. This is something that people normally seek elsewhere. No one has come to us with a quest for knowledge before. It intrigues me._

"There is an imbalance in the worlds, Kingdom Hearts. Surely you have sensed it."

_We do not know of this 'you' you speak of. However, I have noticed an imbalance. You wish to know something about this imbalance?_

"Yes. I want to know what caused it."

_Is it not obvious?_

"To me, it is not obvious."

_I see. It should be. The imbalance was created._

"By Xemnas?"

_Xemnas…the tall one. No, not by Xemnas. By his Other._

"His Other?"

_Yes, Asher. By Xehanort, his Heartless and original self. He gave his heart to darkness to study the Heartless, and so created an imbalance. He furthered the imbalance by amassing grand armies of Heartless and conquering worlds, searching for Kingdom Hearts._

"I see. Kingdom Hearts, I wish to correct this imbalance, but…"

_But you do not ask our help. Why not? You must know that I could restore balance._

"Yes, but there is a problem. Xemnas has kidnapped a woman, one that I love very much. In order to save her, I must retrieve Xemnas' heart, or he will kill her."

_Then, you are fortunate._

"What?"

_Have you not figured it out yet? I thought it would be very simple._

"Figured what out?"

_That restoring the tall one's heart is what will correct the imbalance._

"Oh. Then…can you do that?"

_Once again, this 'you' you speak of cannot be identified. However, we are able to help. We shall restore the tall one's heart now._

Asher looked behind himself as Xemnas grasped his chest and staggered forward a step. Xemnas gasped. "My…my heart? Is this my heart? It is! At long last! I am Xehanort once more," he said, holding out his hand. "Thank you, Asher. And now, I shall return your fiancé, as per our agreement."

The card holding Trista hostage appeared in his hand. He was about to flick his wrist when the card suddenly evaporated.

Xehanort stood in disbelief. "What? What trickery is this?"

Asher choked in alarm. "Trista? NO! What happened to her?"

The echo of Axel's voice resonated in Asher's head. "Kingdom Hearts gets something in return for what it gives. It doesn't ask. It just takes. You don't get to choose what it takes."

"Why did you do that to me, Kingdom Hearts? To her?! Why?!"

_In time, you will understand. Is there something else that you request?_

Somehow, through his pain, Asher was able to remember. "There is another whose heart I want restored. Axel."

_Axel is trapped in your memories. However, this task will not be difficult._

Asher felt dizzy, as it seemed as though his head was being scrambled to pieces. Axel's body slowly began to materialize next to Asher's. Surprised, Axel looked down at his hands, then looked at Asher and smiled. "You did it, Asher! Asher? What's wrong? Oh, no…it took HER, didn't it?"

Asher just looked down at the ground.

"I'm so sorry, Asher."

Asher looked back up at the door. "And what will you take THIS time, Kingdom Hearts?"

_Nothing. We require nothing._

"Are you sure?" he asked spitefully.

_I would advise you to watch your tone, Asher._

Axel spoke up. "I? We? So, which are you? An 'I' or a 'we'?"

_It makes no difference. I am we. We are I. I am many, but we are one. I am Kingdom Hearts, and we are the hearts of those who have passed._

"A disturbing concept."

_Is it? I suppose it could be. The human brain is not so insightful as the human heart._

Asher sighed. "Let's go, Axel. Kingdom Hearts obviously won't help us anymore."

_Do not mistake yourself, Asher. We have helped you more than you know. Muse on this. You will find your answer sooner than you think._

Axel and Asher left Kingdom Hearts behind them as they walked toward Xehanort and Star. "Ah, Axel. Still alive, somehow, I see. Well, if you'll all excuse me, I really must be going. I have…much to catch up on."

With that, Xehanort vanished.

Star looked solemnly at Asher. "Asher? About Trista…"

Asher sighed. "I know, Star. I saw what happened. Kingdom Hearts took her."

"Kingdom Hearts TOOK her? Why?"

Axel shook his head. "Don't know. It just told him he'd 'understand later.'"

Star frowned. She approached Asher consolingly, holding out her hand to him. "You know, if you want to talk…"

"Forget it, Star. Right now, I just need to be alone. No offense, Axel."

"None taken. I think now that I've finally got my heart, I'm going to go see Sora. He's where I'll find Roxas. It would be…good to see him again."

"I see. Goodbye, Axel. Hopefully, we'll see each other again soon."

Axel smiled. "Yeah. You're a better friend than I thought you'd be. And a better person."

"Thanks. See you around."

Axel nodded, and summoned a portal through the darkness. Without a hint of fear, he stepped through.

"Star?"

"Yeah, Asher?"

"I'm sorry I keep pushing you away. I just…"

"Don't worry about it."

"Okay…I'll try not to. We should get you home."

"How?"

Asher shrugged. "How else?" He was obviously implying a dark portal. "But…we left the ship in Feudal Japan, didn't we?"

"Yeah."

"We should really take that back to your home."

"Asher, HOW? I don't HAVE a home anymore."

"Yes, you do. You'll have one, now. Kingdom Hearts fixed the imbalance. Your home will be restored now."

"How does that happen?"

"Sometimes, Star, it's best just not to ask questions," Asher said with a sigh. With that, he opened a portal through the darkness back to the Gummi Ship. The two stepped though.

Back on the ship, Star sat in the captain's chair, worrying. At first she was worried about what he family might think of her missing, and what Brandon's family might think about him not coming back…but now she was just worried about Asher. He still hadn't come out of his room. She decided to knock on the door. "Asher, are you alright?"

"Actually, Star…" he opened the door. "I'm better than alright."

"Huh?"

"I finally figured out what Kingdom Hearts was saying, Star. Why it took Trista. Why it said that I would understand. I do understand. I know what I have to do now. But…I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? Why?"

"Because I won't be able to keep a promise I made to you. The one about helping you tell Brandon's parents about his death."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've kept so many of my promises, but…this one I won't be able to."

"Why not?"

"Because I finally figured out what I have to do, Star," he said as though it were something obvious that she was missing. He summoned his Keyblade. "Thank you, Star. For everything you've done for me. I'm truly grateful. If you see Axel again…tell him…I'll see him on the other side."

Star took a frightened step back. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Goodbye, Star."

"Asher?!"

Asher drove the Keyblade through his heart. He fell to his knees, his heartache turned to physical suffering. Blood leaked from the wound, the flow slowed by the blade so that it merely trickled down his cloak. With the neurons in his brain ceasing the firing that had kept him alive for nearly 18 years, Asher smiled. "Trista…I'm…coming…for you." Warmth overtook him, and the world around him went dark. His body went limp.

Star barely managed to keep from vomiting, becoming nauseous at the sight of the blood on the floor and Asher's chest. "Asher? Asher! Asher, get up! Please, get up! This…this can't be happening. This is just a dream, that's it. Soon, I'll wake up and Asher will be there and everything will be just fine. We'll go and tell Brandon's parents that he's dead and I'll show him how to catch Pokemon and train them. We'll become the best battlers in Kanto, and everything will be fine. Just fine."

_This isn't a dream, Star._

"You! You're the one that started me on this stupid quest, aren't you?"

_Yes, Star. And you have done well._

"Done well? What do you mean, done well? Bring Asher back!"

_I cannot._

"You can't? Aren't you Kingdom Hearts? You brought Axel back! Bring Asher back!"

_Asher is at peace._

"First Brandon, now Asher? Why are you taking everyone away from me?"

_I have taken nothing from you that has not given itself willingly. Brandon's body was destroyed by Sephiroth, and so I took in his heart, to a place where he could be at peace. Asher desired to be with she who he loves, and so I took him to a place where his love could be eternal. As one day I shall take you in, and your children, and their children. Kingdom Hearts is a place for lost hearts and souls. Kingdom Hearts is the beginning and the end. You have come so far, and done so much, and yet you still do not understand. However, that is to be expected. You cannot understand. You will not understand, until your own time has come._

"What do you want from me?"

_I want nothing. I can want nothing. I can only do, and say. Go, Star. Be with the ones you love, and take heart that those who are gone are not lost. They are watching you, from the other side._

Star nodded sadly, tears welling in her eyes. She bent down toward Asher's frame and saw a small paper in his hand. Scrawled in almost illegible chicken-scratch was a note. Reading it, she could almost hear Asher's voice, as if he were reading it to her himself.

"_Star,  
I forgive you for any mistakes you may have made. You have truly been a friend to me. Though we only knew each other for a short time, I felt we had the bond of true friendship, like I did with Brandon. I know I'll meet him on the other side. I'll tell him that you miss him. Don't worry about telling Brandon's parents about what happened. I have another note in my pocket that will explain everything to them. Don't blame yourself for what happened to him anymore. It's as much my fault as it is yours, anyway. Be careful, kid. It's a big world out there, even where you live. And remember: Don't be sad. Don't cry about us dying. Instead, laugh about the funny things we did while we were alive, smile about the happy things, and curse the bad times. Remember us alive and we'll be alive in your heart. After all, that's where your friends really are. Now, I've gone to where I can be with the one woman who belongs in a very special place of my own heart. Don't worry about me, because I'll never be happier than I will on the other side._

_ Yours truly,  
Asher"_

She grabbed the second note from his coat pocket, but decided not to read it. Turning away, she threw the first on the ground in frustration. Then, she noticed some more nearly incomprehensible text on the back.

"_P.S.:  
No fancy funeral for me, Star. I want my body shot out of the airlock into space, but close to a planet, so it can become a meteor. I always thought that'd be really cool."_

Star couldn't help but laugh. Well, she certainly didn't want to deny a crazy man a crazy burial request. She turned to prepare Asher's body. The Keyblade had vanished, and now that it was not blocking his wound, Asher's blood had begun to spill on the floor. Thinking, she drew Arcanine's Pokeball and summoned it.

"Ca….nine?"

"Arcanine…I need you to help me move Asher's body. We need to get him over inside that room," she said, pointing at the airlock.

Arcanine nodded, and gently lifted Asher in its mouth. It flinched at the taste of his blood, as if it caused an urge to bite down, but it held its own. It walked over to the airlock and set Asher's body down on the floor. "Thanks, Arcanine. Return," she said, calling it back.

Star walked over to the airlock and pressed the button to shut the door. He hand lingered in front of the button to open the outer door to space. She had seen a planet nearby, and knew that Asher's body would fall toward it. Another tear fell from her already stinging eyes. "Goodbye, Asher."

With that, she pressed the button, and Asher's body soon became a beautiful ball of fire descending toward the planet.


	42. Epilogue

A huge thank-you to anyone who stuck around and kept reading despite my extreme lack of chapter frequency. You guys rule.

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Star sighed heavily, walking the familiar street back to her house. It felt good to be home again, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that the next few months were going to be torturous. Knocking on the dark oak door of her family's modest, white, ranch-style home, she drew in and out a calming breath. Her father answered the door, a soft smile crossing his face as he realized who was at the door. "Star! Back so soon? You haven't been gone but a day, have you?"

"I…yeah, Dad. I just decided I want to wait a little while longer before going out and training Pokemon."

Xander's smile grew wider. "Well, sweetheart, you know that you're ALWAYS welcome here," he said, giving her a big bear hug.

Star fought the urge to cry. "I love you, Dad."

Xander pulled her away to see her face, concerned. "You okay, kiddo? Something wrong?"

"I'll…tell you when we get inside. Is Mom home?"

"Yeah, she's in the living room."

"Okay. There's something I have to tell you guys."

Xander frowned. "All right. Come on in."

He entered the living room with Star close behind. "Summer, honey? Star's home. She says she has something to tell us."

The same frown that Xander wore spread to Summer's face as well. "What is it, sweetie?"

Star hung her head. "Well, you know that kid down the street? My old friend, Brandon?"

"Yeah. He's a good kid. What about him?"

"Well, we…"

"Wait!" Xander said without warning. "DID YOU TWO—"

"No, Dad, we did NOT have sex."

"Oh. Uh…continue."

"Well, Brandon and I went…adventuring. It's a long story. Brandon…well…he's dead, Dad."

"Dead? You mean like DEAD, dead?"

Summer sighed. "I don't think there's another kind of DEAD, honey."

"How did this happen, Star? Tell us everything."

Star took a deep breath. "Well, it's a long story. It all started when we went out to Celadon City. We were attacked by this giant creature…"

Two hours later, Star had told the whole story to her parents. She soon regretted telling them the ENTIRE story.

"You had SEX with this Asher person? AGAINST his WILL?"

"Dad!"

"Right. So…Brandon's really gone, then?"

"Yeah. I just…I still can't believe it," Star said, tearing.

Xander and Summer walked over and both held Star to comfort her. "There, there," Summer said, surprisingly calmly. "It will be all right. I don't want you to worry about this anymore, sweetie. We'll tell Brandon's parents."

Xander nodded. "It'd be better if they heard it from other adults."

"But…Asher said that I should just give them this note," Star said, fishing out the bloodied piece of paper from her pocket.

"Honey, I think we know a little better than this kid you keep talking about. STAR! Why is that paper covered in blood?"

"It's Asher's, Dad."

"Asher wrote that note in BLOOD?!"

"No, Dad. I got it from him after he killed himself."

"The boy KILLED himself. Right in front of MY daughter?"

"Dad. Please. Stay focused."

"Yes. Well, give me a minute to read the note, Star. I'll decide whether or not this gets to Brandon's parents."

Xander skimmed the small paper, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. After a moment, he conceded. "I guess…this would be better than us telling his parents."

Summer looked suspiciously at him. "Xander, are you just saying that because you don't want to have to break the bad news to them yourself?"

Xander sighed, handing Star the note. "Yes."

Star shook her head in disbelief. "How can you two think about his situation like this?"

Summer frowned. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry. I feel bad that Brandon's gone. Your father and I both do. But we can't let that consume us. I'm sorry we're not crying like you, but we didn't know him as well as you did. We barely knew him at all. It isn't that we don't care."

Star scoffed, walking out the door. "Whatever," she retorted, slamming it behind her.

Xander sighed, and began to step toward the door.

"Let her go, Xander. She needs to be alone right now."

"But…"

"Let her go."

"All right."

Running as fast as she could, it was only a couple of minutes before Star arrived at Brandon's parents' house. Brandon's mother opened the door before Star even made it to the driveway, and greeted her with a smile. "Well, if it isn't little Star! How are you, dear?"

Star stopped in her tracks in front of the woman. She suddenly felt nauseous. "Mrs. C…I have something to tell you."

"Something to tell me? What is it?"

"Here," Star said weakly, handing her the note.

Brandon's mother began to choke while reading the note to herself. She looked angrily at Star. "Is this your idea of a JOKE, young lady?"

Tears welled up in Star's eyes, as well as Brandon's mother's. "No, Mrs. C. It's no joke. Brandon…he's gone."

Brandon's mother began to sob and weep uncontrollably. "No…that's not possible. Oh, my poor, sweet little Brandon!"

"Mrs. C…I'm so sorry…" Star consoled.

"When my husband gets home…oh, I don't think I can stand this…Go home, child. I need to be alone right now."

Star nodded, and left, but she didn't go home. Home was the last place on her mind to go. Instead, she borrowed a neighbor's bike and pedaled to Celadon City. The mesmerizing brick below soothed her as she approached her target: the Game Corner. Swinging the door open slowly, sadly, she sat down at the bar. "Barkeep…give me a double shot of Ryhorn Tamer."

The balding man, cleaning a glass in typical bartender fashion, scoffed. "Missy, ain't you a little YOUNG to be drinkin' whiskey?"

"There's no age limit here in Celadon, old man. Just give me the drink."

"Fine, fine," the old man said, pulling a whiskey bottle from under the counter and pouring it into a glass. "But if you ask me, you shouldn't be drownin' your troubles with that there glass 'o whiskey."

"You're not my psychiatrist," Star warned, "and you're not my doctor. It's no business of yours what I use this glass of whiskey for. The only business you have is selling it to me."

She slapped a $100 bill on the table.

"Missy, I think you need new glasses. Price up on the wall there says $100 for SIX PACK o' Ryhorn Tamer."

"You read the number on that bill, old man? One. Hundred. Pokedollars."

"Yer gonna be sorry if you drink that much, kid."

"So what? It's not your problem, old man. Just give me the six pack."

"All right, but you still gotta pay for the double shot."

Star fished another couple of Pokedollars out of her pocket and handed them to the man. Downing her glass, she grabbed the alcohol the man had just slapped onto the counter and decided to find somewhere more secluded to rid herself of her sorrows.

That night, Star was found collapsed outside Brandon's parents' home and taken to the Celadon Treatment Center. She was diagnosed with alcohol poisoning. After a few days' recovery, Star was released from the hospital by her father's request, who promised to her that he would put a stop to her apparently newfound drinking habit.

The next day was Brandon's funeral. She found it odd, going to a funeral without a body, but said nothing. She only watched and listened as the priest read the eulogy—Asher's note about Brandon's death.

"_To Brandon's friends and family.  
I'm sure that you know that you were all dear to Brandon. He was a good man. He and I formed an organization with Star a while back to help out people in need, people that couldn't help themselves. We fixed a lot of stuff and saved a lot of people's lives. But Brandon's own life was taken by a confused man who decided that our organization needed to be stopped. I don't know why the man did it. Even to this day I still wonder why he didn't take me instead. But I know that Brandon wouldn't want me to think about that. He'd want me to think about how I could help someone else, how I could help keep his spirit alive by continuing the work he put his heart into. Brandon was a brave soul, a strong man, and a good friend. He will be dearly missed._

_Sincerely,  
Asher."_

As everyone vacated the funeral home after the ceremony ended, Star looked up into the sky. It was already night time. She smiled ever so slightly. At least the stars looked friendly.


End file.
